[#1] Who we are is more important than how logically we speak
Aristotle's Rhetoric, Greg's resilience framework, building network, and spread of TikTok
Today’s Insights
1. [Communication] Who we are is more important than how logically we speak
2. [Productivity] A thought framework to help you stay resilient
3. [Business] The key to building a network: serving a small group of people
4. [Global] More people start using TikTok for news
🐋 Who we are is more important than how logically we speak
1. According to Aristotle, there are three pillars of persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
2. Ethos is the speaker, his or her credibility and character.
3. Pathos is the emotion, emotional bond with audiences.
4. Logos is the logic, logical and rational speech.
5. Many of us are taught from a young age the importance of writing and speaking logically. Partly because of this, we tend to prepare thoroughly to build our opinions logically in order to persuade others.
6. However, I personally believe Ethos is the most important. (More than Pathos and Logos)
7. Sometimes when we have a bad experience in a conversation, we think it's because the other person's opinion is illogical. But in reality, it's more likely that we did it because of the emotional component of the conversation than the logic. And even more likely than emotion, it's because we didn't like the person in the end.
8. Conversely, even if an argument is weakly logical, we are more likely to accept it if the conversation makes us feel good or if we have a high level of trust in the person.
9. This can be applicable from daily life to business.
10. If you have kids, and if you promised them a treat for finishing their homework, keep it. Your relationship with your child can't be healthy if they lose trust in you.
11. (Although all of three elements are essential for persuasion) Building trust with clients, customers, and stakeholders should be the priority to every decision makers.
12. And it takes a well-honed character to be trustworthy.
13. In that sense, isn't honing our character one of the most important things we need to do throughout our life?
- Sung’s writing after reading [Rhetoric], a book of Aristotle
🐋 A thought framework to help you stay resilient
Greg shared this simple but powerful mental health framework that you can keep alive.
Overthinking —> Write
Uninspired —> Read
Scared —> Take one risk
Stuck —> Walk
Tired —> Sleep
Confused —> Ask
Frustrated —> Move
Burned out —> Day off
Impatient —> Review progress
Unmotivated —> Remember your “why”
What's your crisis response framework to help you bounce back quickly when things go wrong?
- Greg Isenberg, the CEO of Late Checkout
🐋 The key to building a network: serving a small group of people
1. A network needs to cross a certain threshold to be born, but once it's established, it has tremendous value.
2. Once established, networks are not easily changed. They can win against even technological evolution.
3. (If you ask why Americans still use checks in the United States or if you ask why they use Fahrenheit, it's because they've always done so.)
4. Although building a network is hard, we can still find some successful network building cases throughout the history.
5. Card companies evolved from an agreement between a small group of customers and a few New York restaurants they regularly visited.
6. Facebook started among Harvard students.
7. PayPal started among buyers and sellers on eBay in the United States.
8. In other words, they started with a small community of people with similar interests, gained as many members as they needed, and then started scaling after they reached a tipping point.
- [The Pay Off], a book of Gottfried Leibbrandt & Natasha de Teran
🐋 More people start using TikTok for news
1. Based on Reuters Initiative’s Digital News Report 2024, we can see that in some places, TikTok is used as a source for information.
2. According to its data, some people in countries such as Thailand (39 percent), Kenya (36 percent), Malaysia (31 percent), Indonesia (29 percent), South Africa (28 percent), Peru (27 percent), Philippines (23 percent) use TikTok for news.
3. Some politicians starts utilizing TikTok. For example, Argentina’s President Javier Milei uses TikTok for campaigns. (His account has 2.2 million followers)
4. One interesting thing I noticed from the map is that most of the high-usage countries (where people use TikTok for news) are located in the Southern Hemisphere.
5. (Albeit by leaps and bounds,) while the United States has strong allies in the Northern Hemisphere, I feel like China is gradually expanding its cultural influence throughout the Global South. (TikTok is one of the most popular Chinese apps)
6. I hope we (especially in advancing countries of the Global South) will be able to use discernment and utilize TikTok in ways that will benefit ourselves.
- Sung’s writing after reading an article from Statista
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
- John Wooden