Principles of Rhetorics

Gricean Maxims

The Gricean maxims is a set of four principles for effective communication. When the maxims are followed correctly, the speaker is able to communicate effectively to the listener.

• According to the Maxim of Quantity, share only the right amount of information that is suitable for the conversation.
  
• According to the Maxim of Quality, share only information that is true and supported by sufficient evidence.
• According to the Maxim of Relevance, share only information that is relevant to the conversation; that is, do not divert from the topic.
• According to the Maxim of Manner, be clear, unambiguous and orderly while engaging in a conversation.

Bias

• Algorithmic bias -
• Inductive bias (or learning bias) - assumptions used by a learning algorithm to make prediction on unseen data e.g. maximum margin in SVMs, test of generalization power using test data, Occam’s razor
• Cognitive bias
• Confirmation bias - the tendency to favour information that agrees with previously held beliefs
• Gender bias, racial bias - the tendency to believe that a certain gender (typically women) and certain races (typically black) are intellectually and physically weak
• Systemic bias - discrimination inherent in the system e.g. Apartheid
• Selection bias - the bias introduced by the selection of individuals; bias introduced due to incomplete data e.g. in surveys
• Stereotyping - the tendency to attribute a certain characteristic to an entire group based on lack of evidence e.g. All Muslims are terrorists. All white people are racists.
• Survivorship bias - tendency to focus on individuals that survived and overlooking the ones that failed to make it due to their lack of visibility; e.g. WW2 bombers (the others that were shot down), All IITians bag 1Cr packages (the others don’t even make the headlines).
• Information bias - the tendency to seek information when it does not affect action

Fallacies

These tactics are commonly employed in debates and political speeches to distract the masses or to avoid discussing the topic at hand.

• Red herring - tool for distraction
• Straw (weak) man - argument based on a weaker or misrepresented version of the opponent’s position
• Ad hominem - attack the arguer (1) appeal to motive, (2) appeal to authority, (3) appeal to hypocrisy (whataboutism)
• cum hoc ergo propter hoc - correlation does not imply causation
• No true Scotsman - change the generalization by excluding the counterexample
• Cherry-picking - pointing at individual cases from a population to support one’s argument while ignoring evidence from the population to the contrary
• Appeal to consequences - argument primarily based on consequences of the argument e.g. caste-based politics (Hindu khatre mein hain!)
• Appeal to tradition - argument primarily based on premises that are long held to be true e.g. conservatives
• Appeal to emotion - argument primarily based on manipulation of emotions rather than using valid, logical reasoning e.g. speech by politicians

Ethics and Philosophy

• Trolley problem: who should I save; how to make this decision; e.g. autonomous driving
• Tragedy of the Commons: individual goals vs. collective goal; e.g. female infanticide;
• Prisoner's dilemma: cooperation vs. competition; trust issues;
• Volunteer's dilemma: should I sacrifice a little to benefit others; e.g. പൂച്ചക്കാര് മണികെട്ടും; 
• Bystander effect: someone else will do it; e.g. mass emails vs. personal emails; sense of responsibility is tied to presence of bystanders; 
• Allegory of the cave
• Principle of double effect: e.g. Is it lawful to kill a person in self-defense?, ധർമ്മസങ്കടം