Don't Think of An Elephant by George Lakoff

George Lakoff's book, Don't Think of An Elephant: Know your values and frame the debate--the Essential Guide for Progressives, provided fodder for understanding the underlying constructs along the spectrum of American politics. I liked the engaging balance between complexity and common sense presented in the book. I particularly appreciated how Lakoff tackled the issue of lying within the context of political argument. He claims that our subconscious (maybe conscious too?) is more bothered by the motive behind a lie than the actual mis-truth. Our rational mind is intertwined with our emotions, so a lie activates our curiosity both in order to find out if it is true as well as to understand why the teller has chosen it. Lakoff shows how we vote our values over our self-interest when the two conflict, explaining how important the process and principles are in framing political discourse. The three take-aways I will retain from this fantastic guide include:

1. The goal of each party is to extend their model and convince people to buy in by tapping their values. People vote their values more often than self-interest if the two are in conflict.
2. Reason and facts alone are not enough to convince people of a perspective because we only accept facts and arguments that fit into our frames of thinking, based on our values (strict father and nurtrant parent are the two ends of the spectrum).
3. Because of #2, "reframing" arguments is key. How an argument is presented is just as important as the content of what is said the political arena.
4. In reframing, one must be aware of and avoid crossing the chasm of misleading. Betrayal is interpreted as more severe than lying to humans, particularly in politics.

I'm taking a risk by having four great Lakoff points listed here, as I hear at the Kennedy School, good points come in threes. I hope they can fit into the KSG frame of argument synthesis.