|
STANDING UP TO
EXPERTS AND AUTHORITIES:
How to Avoid being Intimidated, Manipulated and Abused OUTLINE PART I: Spotting Manipulation, Intimidation and Abuse Chapter One: Seduction of the Situation: How Factors in the Situation Unconsciously Take Your Power Away Be Smart: Don’t Be Hoodwinked by Credentials · Is the person really an expert? · Is the credential relevant? · Is the credential meaningful? Separate the Message from the Messenger: · Are you letting the person’s appearance dazzle you? How to avoid letting gender, clothing, tone of voice, attractiveness, and body language color your responses to authorities · Do you fall for ideology over content? Thinking critically about what the person is saying, rather than if you like them or not Think Things Through: Don’t Passively React · Are you automatically responding the way you were taught? · Do you have doubts but ignore them? · Do you go along to avoid being rude? · Do you let yourself be overcommitted? Chapter Two: Do Think Twice, It’s Alright: Disenpowering Techniques that Sidetrack Your Thinking · Spotting Emotional Manipulation and How to Avoid Falling For It · Recognizing and Rejecting Pseudoreasoning · Thinking Critically about Evidence Chapter Three: We Know More Than You So Shut Up: How The Experts Try To Convince You They Are Authorities · What the Experts Use Against You What they say and don’t say: They use jargon and mystifying technical language They give you some, but not all, the information you need They make the simple seem complex and incomprehensible They present ideas and opinions as if they were indisputable truths They tell you to leave it to them because they are the experts They claim that what you want them to do is not their responsibility What they do and don’t do: They are unwilling to listen to you They don’t answer your questions They transform what you say into “proof” that you are bad, crazy or wrong They change the rules as they wish but pretend rules are absolute and unchangeable PART II How to Deal with Experts and Authorities Chapter Four: From Victim to Warrior How To Question Experts And Stand Up to Authorities Steps for dealing effectively with authorities · Recognizing the right to question experts · Preparing a list of questions · Clarifying what questions are to be answered · Disarming the expert · Taking notes · Ask to explain jargon · Ask for written information · Take time to think · Consult with others · Look for bias · Consider other options Chapter Five: Sit Up, Stand Up for Your Rights: How to Be Assertive Without Being Aggressive · Identify what’s important to you · Apply assertiveness techniques · Seek allies · Exit the situation if necessary Chapter Six: How to Argue Effectively · What arguments work and what don’t · Techniques for turning “no” into “yes” · Reasoning with irrational people Chapter Seven: Don’t Trust Me: I’m A Doctor: Questioning Professional Experts · Standing up to physicians, psychologists, lawyers, insurance companies, etc. · Applying techniques using specific anecdotes Chapter Eight: I am Not a Number: Questioning Bureaucracies and Institutions · How to deal with mind-numbing, uncaring bureaucracies · Reasoning with irrational people in bureaucracies Chapter Nine: Don’t Take This Job and Shove It: Dealing with Bosses · Reasoning with irrational bosses · Asking for raises · Coping with Evaluations Chapter Ten: All the News That’s Not Fit to Print: Thinking Critically about the Printed Word · How to spot pseudoreasoning and other kinds of disinformation and biases in TV news, magazines, ads, self-help books, and the Internet · How to avoid media seduction Chapter Eleven: Saying Yes to Reason: When It Is Appropriate To Obey Or Accept Authority · When it is practical to obey or accept · When it is reasonable to obey or accept · When it is moral to obey or accept Chapter Twelve: Won’t Get Fooled Again: Wrap-up and suggestions for the future © Copyright 2003 by Sharon Presley |