Rhetorical Analysis Of Mind Over Mass Media By Steven Pinker

In “Mind Over Mass Media” by Steven Pinker, Pinker explains the “moral panics” caused by new forms of media. Pinker persuades the reader that most panics caused by the media are either overly exaggerated or just false. Pinker effectively uses historical evidence, logical analysis, and some humor mixed in with a lot of sarcasm to back up his main statement “But such panics often fail reality checks.” Pinker also provides some scientific evidence but most of his arguments are logically proven with common knowledge rather than a lot of scientific data. Pinker states an example of the past where people thought that media was having a negative impact on people. Right in the beginning of the essay Pinker states “The printing press, paperbacks, and television were all once denounced as threats to their consumers.” Of course people now know that none of this is true, so Pinker manipulates the reader into thinking that maybe all of the panic happening now over new forms of media is completely false just like how it was in the past. This is a very discreet and effective piece of the essay that helps persuade the readers that mass media does not have a …show more content…
He lacks quantitative or scientific information which could have helped him solidify many of his arguments. Pinkers response to the argument that “experience can change the brain” is, “the existence of neural plasticity does not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into shape by experience”. While Pinker is not using any scientific information here, he is effectively using metaphors and logical reasoning to show that although “every time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain changes”, the effects of mass media is still minimal. He uses the metaphor “brain is not a blob of clay pounded into shape by experience” to make his statement easier to comprehend because it is more relatable and you get a visual idea of message Pinker is trying to