Forms of appeal

Logos

Pico Iyer appeals to his reader’s reason in “Why we need to slow down our lives” by including logical arguments, statistics, and facts which support his ideas.

For example, he uses statistics to show that in today’s world we generate and have access to more information than ever: “The amount of data humanity will collect while you’re reading The Art of Stillness is five times greater than the amount that exists in the entire Library of Congress.” (ll. 20-24).

To convince readers that distractions have negative effects, Iyer cites specialized studies: “Researchers in the new field of interruption science have found that it takes an average of twenty-five minutes to recover from a phone call. Yet such interruptions come every eleven minutes…” (ll. 27-32).

To encourage readers to accept meditation, Iyer also mentions the health benefits of mediation techniques: “…it’s been found by scientists that meditation can lower blood pressure, help boost our immune system, and even change the architecture of our brains.” (ll. 137-135). Also, Iyer mentions the positive results these practices have had in various companies: “Indeed, fully a third of American companies now have ‘stress-reduction programs,’  and the number is increasing…” (ll. 139-141); “At General Mills, 80 percent of senior executives reported a positive change in their ability to make decisions, and 89 percent said that they had become better listeners…” (ll. 159-163).

By contrast, the writer mentions that: “Stress is contagious, studies have found.” (l. 254). This study reinforces the idea that people need to find ways to alleviate stress,...

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