In “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius, the stoic Roman emperor of 170 AD, mentions study of rhetoric as crucial to succeed for any leader. Marcus had spent a lot of time developing his thinking. In particular, he mentions Alexander, the great. Coached and mentored by Aristotle, his brain training range was vast. It covered most sciences and many of the arts. Biology, botany, chemistry, ethics, history, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, physics, poetics, political etc.
What amuses me most is :RHETORIC (छद्मवाद : झूठ बोल के ठगना ). Why is rhetoric interesting? Its a fraud, its a sorcery, its deception, its lies, its unethical but is essential to succeed. Here is the formal definition : :Communication designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect, but regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content. This subject has survived test of time and even today is the most crucial for any leader to thrive.
Why are lies or the art of speaking lies crucial to persuade people ? Because it works. , you need to lie convincingly and lie shamelessly again and again. Learned and discerning people most often can see through the rhetoric but most commoners cant.. Wondered why big leaders lie shamelessly and relentlessly? Why and how do these lie succeed? Majority of humans are low intelligence, low discretion and are struggling in their lives. They work their backs off but their efforts do not bear enough fruits. They lose hope (Farmers who get no rain after 4 months of toil in 50 degree heat) of living and comprise biggest block in suicides. To hapless folks, demagogues promising 16 lakhs or free food, free travel is soopurr sexy.. While commoners may get nothing, the demagogues (thugs) succeed big time in gettting power, money and often both.
इस्लाम खतरे में है (ISIS), हिन्दू काटे जाएंगे (VHP), भैंसे छीनी जायेगी (नंदू), संविधान नोच लिया जाएगा (Congis), 16 लाख account में आएंगे खटा खट , खटा खट , खटा खट. पाकिस्तान हमारे सैनिकों को मार डालेगा( संघी ), Coronil(रामदेव ), पुत्र दायी पातंजलि बीज, राम मंदिर पर फिर से ताला लगेगा(नंदू ) , नाशै रोग हरे सब पीड़ा जपत निरंतर… ( तुलसीदास) , 400 पार , इत्यादि से केवल ठगों को अपरिमित फायदा हुआ है , not to citizens. A discerning mind is capable of seeing through this sorcery and read the frauds. My previous blog post deals with the wicked use of rhetoric in 2014 . Formal education or degrees doesnt empower the countrymen to develop critical thinking. The degree dhaari illiterates are not only the biggest consumers of rhetorics, they are the biggest spreaders of such ugly rhetorics on WHATSAPP.
How do you think the current and next generation can be taught to understand the scam of rhetorics?
Sunday Morning itch 