Practical Skepticism Part 1-Identify the Claim

In my last post, I stated,

As parents we face claims every day, people and companies telling us what to do, what to buy, and what to believe.

But what, exactly, is a claim? In the most general terms, a claim is a statement about how the world works. It can be as simple as “1+1=2″ or as complex (and controversial) as “The universe was created by a supreme being.” In the context of parenting, claims tend to be about practical matters like health, education, and safety. They are made as a prelude to convincing us to act in a certain way.

Usually, they are straight-forward. Examples of claims commonly seen by parents:

• Vaccines can prevent disease.
• Vaccines cause autism.
• Breast milk is the best possible food for babies.
• Cloth diapers are better for the environment than disposables.

In an article I linked to in July, Evan Bernstein of Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe saw one such straight-forward claim on a cereal box: “Clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by nearly 20%.”

Because they are so obvious, these types of claims are easy to identify. It is the other, less overt types of claims that are harder to spot. Typically, these are seen in marketing copy, on the sides of toys or other children’s products. Until recently, Disney marketed the Baby Einstein DVD’s as “educational.” That adjective alone made a claim about the DVD’s, and people called them on it: earlier this year, Disney changed the way they market the DVD’s, replacing words like “educational” with words like “interactive.”

One toy we recently purchased for CJ has this on the side of the box:

… a great way to build fine motor skills!

… as they grow they will use this toy to learn about colors, shapes and animals.

While these are sill fairly obvious claims, for some reason they were less easy to recognize. We wanted a toy that would be stimulating, that would help her learn, and that would keep her occupied for more than a few minutes. These claims worked to convince us that this toy would be just the ticket. We took the company at its word without thinking about whether or not the words were true.

This is the exactly the intended effect of the words. The marketer knows what parents are looking for in children’s food or toys, and phrases the copy in a way to convince them to buy the product. This is why it is so important to be able to identify such words for what they are: claims. Marketers depend on the fact that most people will not question the claims made on behalf of their products.

If we cannot identify a claim, we cannot know that someone is trying to convince us of something. By identifying seemingly simple statements of fact, we can start to evaluate them. Sometimes, the claim is made and stands by itself, as with the toy we purchased for CJ. Other times, more is offered to convince us. This is when we begin to see statements that support the claim, usually called arguments.

Next Post: Find the Argument

Tagged as: practical skepticism, skeptical parenting, skepticism

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