Just in case anyone else may be interested in something which I shared with 
other groups, here is a summary of some of the methods of persuasion to help 
you sort out fact from fallacy whenever you encounter any claims made by the 
various training, sports, rehabilitation or fitness 'gurus'.

Mel Siff
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DISTINGUISHING FACT FROM FALLACY

(From Ch 3 Siff M C  “Facts and Fallacies of Fitness”)

If you are new to the task of distinguishing fact from fallacy in fitness 
training, health or indeed any other facets of human endeavour, the following 
section is intended to provide you with some helpful investigative tools.    
It identifies some of the more common techniques of persuasion which are 
frequently used to sell ideas, beliefs, politics and products to you, and 
thus enables you to protect yourself against accepting theories as laws, or 
advertising claims as gospel.

The art of persuasion is nothing new.  Its history is as old as that of 
humankind, though its formalisation became far more refined among the ancient 
Greeks.  For instance, Aristotle identified the basic persuasive appeals as 
ethos (appeal by source credibility), logos (appeal to logic and reason) and 
pathos (emotional appeal), while the advent of mass media marketing made 
possible by 20th Century technology developed persuasive marketing to a fine 
art.  The same methods used to control minds politically and ideologically 
are now used wittingly or unwittingly to control trends in the lucrative 
fitness and sports industries.

In many ways it is an indictment of our educational systems that so many of 
the public are nudged by television 'infomercials' and magazine 
advertisements into buying outrageous fitness or physique-enhancing schemes 
or devices which invariably are discarded within a few months of gradually 
diminishing use.  Similarly, so many fitness and shape disciples seem to hang 
on the words of influential fitness 'gurus' or organisations, whose 
credibility depends on exploiting many scientists, doctors and athletes whose 
loyalties can be bought by grants, gifts, sponsorships, power, endorsement 
contracts and prestige.

The process whereby we can be so readily manipulated mentally without 
recourse to the heinous 'brain-washing' techniques of dictatorial regimes has 
been studied by many social scientists and psychologists. One of them, 
Abraham Maslow, identified a hierarchy of needs which underlies human 
behaviour, namely: physiological, safety, social (the need to like and be 
liked), ego-status, and self-actualisation (attaining one's greatest 
potential) needs.  It is to these needs that persuasive techniques appeal.  
Pressures from modern advertising and one's peers often tend to make us 
confuse want with need, where want is a desire for something that we do not 
necessarily need to live a productive and happy life.

In contemporary Western society, appeal to ego-status generally seems to be 
the dominant form of mass persuasion.  Even a cursory glance at advertising 
reveals that being desirable involves not only achieving material and 
personal success, but also being seen while doing so.

Thus, it would seem that our society has produced a generation of mentally 
fragile personalities whose wants far outweigh their needs and who appear to 
have lost the ability or willingness to discriminate fact from fallacy, 
quality from trash, sense from nonsense, and even  good from bad.  Part of 
the problem lies in the fact that inadequate educational emphasis is placed 
on teaching us how the human mind works and how we are manipulated by others 
- unless, of course, we are academically or professionally involved in this 
field.  Encouragement of this faculty of critical thinking has never been 
popular at any time in any country, because it invariably tends to make life 
uncomfortable for those in positions of power.

The situation is not much different in the world of fitness, health and 
sport, since the nurturing of large numbers of critical minds could easily 
threaten fitness empires, the lucrative athletic equipment and clothing 
markets, wealthy fitness personalities, huge pharmaceutical companies and 
academic reputations.     

So, now that you know what the situation is, what can you do about it?  Well, 
the following section summarises many of the methods which are used to help 
you part with your money and your good sense.  Become familiar with them and 
use them to analyse anything and everything that is being offered in the 
fitness world.  This book will guide you through many of the fitness myths 
that we encounter in this world largely on a basis of logical analysis, but 
you are encouraged to become your own expert by constantly questioning 'all 
things' by routinely applying the following guidelines.

Techniques of Persuasion

Some of the most common methods of persuasion are itemised below.  Search for 
their presence all around you and always question the use of:

1.  Emotive language, visually stimulating images and exciting messages  
2.  Statements in which all is implied but only some is true
3.  Proofs based on selected examples
4.  Anecdotal or hearsay evidence which is not supported by serious research
5.  Proofs which suppress any opposing  or damaging arguments
6.  Impressive-sounding or pseudo-scientific jargon
7.  Repeated affirmation to convince an audience
8.  Confident, authoritative posturing or presentation
9.  False, trivial, worthless or irrelevant credentials or degrees
10.  A mixture of facts and fallacies to overcome resistance to a 
questionable idea or product
11.  Testimonials and endorsements by well-known individuals to add authority 
or credibility
12.  Appeal based on prestige, fame or position of individuals or institutions
13.  Apparently logical, but misleading analogies
14.  Extrapolations based on limited or small group studies or experiences
15.  Claims by any individual or group to possess the only truth
16.  Appeals to one's egotism, vanity, background or personal prejudices
17.  Promises of dramatic, rapid or unique results to improve your existing 
status quo
18.  Expensive, visually exciting mass media and advertisements
19.  Research which has not produced consistent physical results
20.  Claims which state, but do not prove, that opposing ideas are dangerous 
or useless
21.  Claims by promoters of anything that it is unquestionably 'the best'
22.  Arguments based largely on claims that science cannot prove everything
23.  Appeal to authority or fear 
24.  Distraction by diversions to side-issues or irrelevant information
25.  Arguments that attribute motives or prejudices to any opponents
26.  Promotion of any position because it appears to be the mean between two 
extremes
27.  Proofs based on loosely or minimally related findings
28.  Assumptions that all experimental subjects or items are similar in a 
given sample
29.  Assumptions that science and scientists are always objective
30.  Speculative argument
31.  Tradition to support a certain viewpoint or method
32.  Extrapolation to humans of results based entirely on animal studies or 
simulations 
33.  Results skewed by the presence or prejudices of the researcher
34.  Acceptance or rejection of ideas simply on the basis of the personality 
of the presenter
35.  General application of results obtained under varying situational 
conditions
36.  Assumption that the majority view is always right or desirable
37.  Assumption that ideas from other cultures and nations are inferior to 
ours
38.  Research which may not identify and analyse unknown variables
39.  Research which may neglect the effects of time and subject dynamics
40.  Overreliance on averages, which disguises the effects of possibly 
critical minority values
41.  Research or products which may be influenced by vested commercial or 
academic interests
42.  Loosely connected facts to deduce a biased result
43.  Graphic devices to distort by artistic licence or change of scale
44.  Results which do not state range of measurement or computational error
45.  Proposition or theory as if it were fact or law
46.  The 'faith factor' or placebo effect, consciously or unconsciously, to 
enhance a certain outcome
47.  Illegitimate or inaccurate use of definition
48.  Extension of the scope of opposing arguments to misrepresent or distort 
them
49.  Results applied out of their original context
50.  Promoting or condemning something because of its consequences to the 
individual.

Now that we have examined the fundamental issues about facts, fallacies, 
logic, sense, nonsense, myths, mistakes, science, non-science and persuasive 
techniques,  we should be in a much stronger position to analyse the weird 
and wonderful claims made about exercise, fitness, sports training and 
rehabilitation.  This we will do in the chapters which follow.

(Reprinted with permission from M C Siff  "Facts and Fallacies of Fitness"  
1998)
_________________________________________

Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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