The Fine Art of Baloney Detection

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The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
The speech provides an insight into some of the deceptions that humans are susceptible. The text illustrates how humans are susceptible to some of the cultural and social believes such as religious narratives and product marketing (Sagan 1). Sagan reflects on the elements of life after death that is used to give religious believers an aspect of hope of meeting their departed loved ones after their death (Sagan 7). Sagan reminds the readers that such agreeing to such deceptions do not portray people as evil or stupid but should prompt individuals to counter those factious arguments using appropriate and reliable means.
Sagan uses irony extensively in the speech to address the tools that people should equip themselves with to overcome detections. The irony is used when she describes the factious deception about life after death. In this case, Sagan does not indicate directly that some of the religious beliefs as deceptions but calls them religious zealotry that humans use to give them hope of eternal life (Sagan 1-5). The other context where irony is used in the text is when he describes the inability of consumers to detect deception in the paid advertisement of products in the society. Sarcasm is used in this context to ensure that the readers are not offended based on the extremity of their religious beliefs.
Sagan uses anaphora throughout the text. The first part of the speech uses repetition of “I” to illustrate the author’s experience with factious deception after the death of his parents.

“I was very close to them. I still miss them. I know I always will. I long to believe that their essence, their personalities, and what I loved so much about them are really and truly.” (Sagan 1). The use of anaphora in the quote is essential when giving examples of the common forms of the deceptions that affected the author after the death of his parents.
Sagan uses metaphor in the first paragraph of the text. He indicates that the last words he said to his father were, “take care.” (Sagan 1) The use of metaphor suggests that the author believes that the father was going on a journey to another spiritual place. The metaphor is also utilized when describing the arguments of Haldane about infinite life. The author indicates that arguments presented by Haldane could be correct based on the type of universe where humans reside (Sagan 2). This metaphor is used to show evidence that Haldane’s ideas are some form of fiction deceptions that many people have agreed with to embrace the concept of eternal life.

Work Cited
Sagan, Carl. “The fine art of baloney detection.” Paranormal Claims: A Critical Analysis 1 (2007).