Chapter 6

The Great Crow Fallacy in the beginning of the chapter brought to mind the tendency that we have to believe these urban legends and wives' tales. There is an entertaining show on Discovery called "Mythbusters" that tests the credibility of stories such as these, using actual data. It is also true that most people believe these things to be true because so many other people have heard of the same things, and the lies are passed down from one person to another. As the book states, repetition does not make a claim true. This chapter also made me aware that not all "scientific studies" can be trusted, though it does have a nice ring to it. "Studies" can be performed by anyone, using any set of criteria, for specific data tailored to what they are looking for. We must be careful of studies because they may not hold that much weight.

Chapter 3

I found the examples in the chapter very eye-opening. Near the end of the chapter the author speaks of the Ab Force belt, which I remembered their absurd commercials on t.v. Most claims of losing weight associated with belts or diet pills are completely bogus. I will admit I was suspicious of many of the diet pills out there, but I chose to take Hydroxycut. I did a lot of online research and the claims seemed credible, but I should have known better. I took the pills for two weeks, and while I did lose a couple pounds, I also suffered from frequent headaches and a pounding heart. It was not the pills that helped me lose the weight, rather the mass amount of water I was drinking (which the pills required), and the extra time I was spending at the gym.
Also, the eight "tricks" that the author mentioned brought to mind a job I had as a customer sales rep (A.K.A telemarketer) for Verizon. We had very extensive training on the use of power words to make sales. I used to sell what was formerly known as DSL. However, when Comcast came out with claims of faster broadband service, we were no longer able to address the service as DSL. Verizon changed the name of their DSL to "High Speed Internet" in order to persuade customers into believing that the service was actually faster.

Chapter 4

"We embrace information that supports our beliefs and reject evidence that challenges them." (pg 60) I found The Psychology of Deception passage strikingly true. Statistics and evidence can be twisted to fit any argument if you want it to. Oftentimes, just as much evidence can be found to disprove your claim, as there is to support it. The chapter mentions deception in the ways in which information is presented; the language used (or not used). Rhetoric is a very tricky tactic to sway people. A lot of the times in advertising; it is not so much the words that are being said, but the way in which they are said.

Chapter 1

I found this chapter to be very interesting. I find that the authors do a great job on presenting the information on both sides-very objective. It never occurred to me the great deal of "creative thinking" that takes place in the advertising world to market a product. Some of the products mentioned in the book seemed absurd to me, yet it is shocking to know that many people blindly believe the claims. However, as absurd as some of those products sounded, I know I have been duped into buying the brand names because of their "superior quality."