Friday, December 30, 2016

TOW #16- Time doesn't exist!

Robert Lanza is the Chief Scientific Officer at the Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University. In this article, he attempts to convince the reader that time does not exist. Although we as humans are led to believe for so long that it does, Lanza uses scientific experiments and efforts to dissuade readers otherwise. In the article, he uses facts and allusions to relate to the reader and to convince them to see his point of view.
In the article, instead of diving head first into such a difficult topic, Lanza first attempts to relate to readers. He does this by referring to everyday life, "For example, find yourself short of either time or space, or both—late for work, standing in a stalled subway car packed with riders". This is a typical situation that most people can relate to. By incorporating this, Lanza successfully hooks in the reader by making the topic of time and space relevant to their everyday life. In addition to alluding to the reader, Lanza also uses ethos in facts that he provides throughout the article that help support his point. For example, he writes, "The results of quantum physics, such as the two-slit experiment, tell us that not a single one of its subatomic particles actually has any physical properties until we observe it". By incorporating proven chemistry knowledge in the article, the author successfully validates his logic to readers. It is very important to have rational science in such an article to prove to readers the nonexistance of time.

Thus, the reader is left to ponder the validity of Lanza's words. It is difficult for them to blindly believe him at first, but readers will slowly take in his words and then will they choose to validate them or cast them aside. 

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