2017 - March
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The three acid tests of persuasive writing
by Philip Yaffe
March 2017Each Communication Corner essay is self-contained; however, they build on each other. For best results, if you have not already done so, before reading this essay and doing the exercise, go to the first essay "How an Ugly Duckling Became a Swan," then read each succeeding essay sequentially.
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The glorious promise of the post-truth world
by Andrew Odlyzko
March 2017"Post-truth"---an adjective designated the 2016 Word of the Year by the Oxford English Dictionaries, and the related term "truthiness," have received much public attention recently, and have inspired heated discussions of "fake news" and "alternative facts."
In this article (spoof/parody/satire/dystopia/…, depending on how you read it), the author argues that the essential role of truthiness in human life is underestimated, and that it "is safer to embrace the inevitable and march into the brave new post-truth world."