Rhetoric of Social Statistics: Statistical Persuasion and Argumentation in the Lumosity Memory Wars

ABSTRACT

The Lumosity games and subsequent “memory wars” illustrate the rhetorical power of statistics in public discourse. Defenders of Lumosity build upon discursive traces based in societal fears and arguments based in “science” supported through statistics and experimentation. Detractors of Lumosity argue that their experiments are faulty. A close rhetorical reading reveals that certain commonalities exist across defenders and detractors alike. Looking at the inventional strategies of the statistical analyst as rhetor demonstrates how statistical tools are granted agency to determine research outcomes. Displacement of rhetorical agency has ramifications for understanding popular scientific discourse and making decisions as a society.

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Candice Lanius

Dr. Candice Lanius is an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Alabama in Huntsville where she teaches user experience, public relations, and public speaking. Her research interests include digital rhetoric, rhetoric of science, and argumentation theory.