ARGUING FROM ANECDOTE
Frequently, people encounter one or two dramatic examples and try to generalize from this event (consider the Hasty Generalization). When a story is told, the emotional value of that story can overwhelm reason and logic. Therefore, it is important to be careful when arguing from anecdote, or when accepting anecdotes as evidence.
Overview:
Strange things happen. Normal things are often misunderstood. People exaggerate. For all of these reasons, allowing a single story to carry weight as evidence for a larger trend is dangerous. For example, someone might go to a restaurant and have an excellent experience there; someone else might go the same restaurant and have a terrible experience there. If these two people rely on their own subjective, one-off experiences, they will have very different views of the restaurant, and it is very likely that neither has an accurate picture.
More dangerous, however, is when people make the mistake of creating a hypothetical anecdote. Imagine if X happens, someone might say, how would you feel about it? The problem is that the ‘imagine if‘ game can be played an infinite number of times, with each person making up a story to appeal to his or her own preconceived notions.
Application:
Student writers need to use anecdotes for what they are—illustrations of larger trends, and not evidence that proves a point on its own. What this means is that while a single emotional story proves very little, that story could become meaningful if it simply represents what happens to many, many people and if the evidence backs up the widespread nature of stories like it.
What to Avoid:
Students should avoid hypothetical evidence, and they should try not to take a small handful of events as proof of an overall trend. One of the more common versions of anecdotal arguments is the ‘imagine if’ scenario. Such a scenario has little place in an academic setting, because imagination is virtually limitless. Someone might imagine a scenario where a red cape gives someone the power to fly; this work of fiction in no way changes the simple reality that capes make poor flight aids.
Frequently, people encounter one or two dramatic examples and try to generalize from this event (consider the Hasty Generalization). When a story is told, the emotional value of that story can overwhelm reason and logic. Therefore, it is important to be careful when arguing from anecdote, or when accepting anecdotes as evidence.
Overview:
Strange things happen. Normal things are often misunderstood. People exaggerate. For all of these reasons, allowing a single story to carry weight as evidence for a larger trend is dangerous. For example, someone might go to a restaurant and have an excellent experience there; someone else might go the same restaurant and have a terrible experience there. If these two people rely on their own subjective, one-off experiences, they will have very different views of the restaurant, and it is very likely that neither has an accurate picture.
More dangerous, however, is when people make the mistake of creating a hypothetical anecdote. Imagine if X happens, someone might say, how would you feel about it? The problem is that the ‘imagine if‘ game can be played an infinite number of times, with each person making up a story to appeal to his or her own preconceived notions.
Application:
Student writers need to use anecdotes for what they are—illustrations of larger trends, and not evidence that proves a point on its own. What this means is that while a single emotional story proves very little, that story could become meaningful if it simply represents what happens to many, many people and if the evidence backs up the widespread nature of stories like it.
What to Avoid:
Students should avoid hypothetical evidence, and they should try not to take a small handful of events as proof of an overall trend. One of the more common versions of anecdotal arguments is the ‘imagine if’ scenario. Such a scenario has little place in an academic setting, because imagination is virtually limitless. Someone might imagine a scenario where a red cape gives someone the power to fly; this work of fiction in no way changes the simple reality that capes make poor flight aids.
