Rhetoric in Daily Life

Rhetoric surrounds the individual in all facets of engagement in which one might find himself or herself. As communication technology exponentially develops, the presence of rhetoric will also increase with an even greater number of mediums with which to engage the public. Currently, the internet seems to dominate this realm of rhetorical persuasion in which the average user is subjected to a cripplingly large amount of advertisements en route to a website that will likely include media imploring the use of rhetoric. For example, if one were to watch a Youtube video, he or she would likely watch a video advertisement for a car company before watching the intended video. In an increasingly technological society, rhetoric plays a significant role in my life as well as that of many others as companies persuade the public to buy the technology that enables them to be further immersed in the rhetorical ploys of news sites, advertisements, mobile applications, etc. Without technologies, the extent of rhetoric in my daily life is still surprising. Fliers and billboards still clutter barren walls and roads respectively perhaps even to a greater extent living in a college town where any number of sentiments or announcements may posted given such a diverse student base. Still the elements of rhetoric persist in each of these mediums, engaging the audience and enticing a provocation of thought whether it be a concert poster or an opportunity to contribute to a charitable cause. As I am exposed to rhetoric in day to day dealings, I also exert my own persuasion through rhetorical situations. When convincing someone not to do something, it’s often easy to assume the slippery slope argument which appeals to logos in regards to rhetoric. While a fallacy in logic, the appeal to logos is nevertheless the same and seeks to persuade one by the argument that one minor decision can determine the course of events given no evidence of a correlation between the two. However, in any social interaction, I implore rhetoric in my every day speech and conversations, making direct and indirect appeals to the logos, pathos and ethos of my “audience” just as any other individual does. As we’re constantly exposed to rhetoric in our daily lives, at what point does society become completely desensitized to certain, if not all, aspects of rhetorical persuasion?