Title
The Natural Fallacy and Cultural Shifts: A Response to Contemporary Interpersonal Failings
Faculty Mentor
Galina Sinekopova
Loading...
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Publication Date
2020
Department
Communication Studies
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine critiques against the contemporary state of interpersonal communication and illustrate their flaws. These critiques center around the ways in which mediation is affecting our abilities to communicate interpersonally. These come from both personal experiences, as well as from contemporary communication scholars that have examined the increased role mediation is playing in our lives. Each critique shares a similar foundation as they make naturalistic assumptions about the “natural” way we ought to communicate. Using rhetorical analysis, I show the ways in which the natural fallacy is present in each of these arguments and how using these naturalistic arguments fundamentally compromises these critiques. There are two major implications that the paper concludes with. First, that research into mediation and contemporary trends in communication needs to focus on the effect’s mediation is having and not just on the different ways it is causing us to behave, as this behavior being different does not in of itself tell us that this behavior is beneficial or pathological. Second, much strife in society is rooted within intergenerational feuds regarding cultural shifts, reflecting on our own upbringing and assumptions that we take for granted is key to healthier intergenerational dynamics.
Recommended Citation
Rinderneck, Jesse, "The Natural Fallacy and Cultural Shifts: A Response to Contemporary Interpersonal Failings" (2020). 2020 Symposium Oral Presentations. 1.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2020_oral_presentations/1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
