Blog 8

In ARCS Ch. 8, they start off the chapter saying "today rhetors often assume that whatever is written down and published is accurate and trustworthy," which I disagree with.  I feel that especially since the popularity of the internet grew, we are actually taught to question everything we read.  It is true that things people write are considered to be testimonials, but now we're taught to question whether someone is really a credible resource.  Depending on their level of experience on a topic, a testimonial might no be very accurate.  For example, a restaurant critic.  Can you really judge a restaurant based on one experience?  Besides, outside factors could affect how you feel about the restaurant like if it seemed like a fair price to you (which would differ depending on your income class) or if you even like the genre of food they have at the restaurant.  While I think it is true that we are taught that good rhetoric is based on data and testimonials, I think that with the introduction of the internet as a go to source for information, we're taught to critique data heavily.  While there may be no denying the temperature recorded in Pullman today, different people might disagree on whether the weather was nice or not based on where they grew up, what they were used to, and what their living situation is.