If I might inject a little confusion here, I think that there are times when one can be "persuaded" but definitely NOT 'convinced" of something. The term "little persuader" pushes up from my memory; this is from Jack London, and refers to some kind of firearm. And doing a Google just now revealed an extremely expensive sales-demo shotgun being called the "little persuader" in 1904. There's a "little persuader" golf tool/zippo lighter on sale on eBay. What they all have in common is an overture of force, a gangster-esque understatement about them. One can indeed be "persuaded" to do something by such force, but one cannot be "convinced" to to so. Being "persuaded" does not require being "convinced," and it seems one resorts to such 'persuading" when one cannot convince.
John McCreery wrote:
On Dec 22, 2007 6:24 AM, <wokshevs@xxxxxx <mailto:wokshevs@xxxxxx>> wrote: I want to say that being convinced by argument is not at all equivalent to, or an instance of, being persuaded. One can be convinced only through the provision and assessment of reasons, while one can be persuaded by any of a multitude of factors influencing belief and/or judgement: political ideology, erotic seducation (that typo is just too good to fix:), appeal to the maintenance of one's SES or to a desire to become Prime Ministerof Quebec.It is good that Walter says, "I want to say," since the distinction he is drawing is not congruent with the definitions provided by the American Heritage Dictionary now included as part of the new Apple OSX Leopard operating system. They read as follows,convince |kənˈvins| verb [ trans. ]cause (someone) to believe firmly in the truth of something : Robert's expression had obviously convinced her of his innocence | you couldn't convince him that a floppy disk was as good as a manuscript.• persuade (someone) to do something : she convinced my father to branch out on his own.persuade |pərˈswād| verb [ trans. ]cause (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument : it wasn't easy, but I persuaded him to do the right thing.• [ trans. ] cause (someone) to believe something, esp. after a sustained effort; convince : they must often be persuaded of the potential severity of their drinking problems | [ trans. ] he did everything he could to persuade the police that he was the robber.• (of a situation or event) provide a sound reason for (someone) to do something : the cost of the manor's restoration persuaded them to take in guests.
-- -------------------------------------------------"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence and ignorance." -------------------------------------------------
John Wager john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Lisle, IL, USA
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