The definition of uninterested according to Dictonary.com says, "having or showing no feeling of interest; indifferent".
My whole life I always thought that these two words could be used interchangeably (similar to how I thought that argument and fight could be used interchangeably at the beginning of this semester). Chapter 8 in the book Thank You for Arguing talks about disinterest and how it does not mean uninterested.
Disinterest is a technique of ethos which shows that the person cares. This technique makes it appear that the person cares about the audience and people they are talking to more than themselves. This method makes it appear that they only care about the audience.
I find it sort of funny how a word I associated with not caring, indifferent, and detached means something completely different. When I first started reading chapter 8 I was insanely confused as it said something that was a 180 from my previous beliefs.
Having thought something completely different it was interesting to see the tools that are used to show disinterest. These include personal sacrifice, dubitatio, authenticity, and reluctant conclusion.
Personal sacrifice is where it appears that you are doing something that will benefit others at your own personal expense. A basic example of this would be letting someone cut ahead of you in a long line at the grocery store. This seems like a personal sacrifice as you are letting them go first so it will take you longer than it needed to. Now in reality, you may have let them go ahead of you because your mom isn't back yet and you don't have the credit card. By letting them go ahead it seems like a selfless gesture but in reality may simply be because you need your mom before you can check out.
Dubitatio is where you make it seem that you are uncertain of yourself and your skill in rhetoric. This means that you make yourself seem innocent and like you are not good at speaking. An example of this could be speaking softly and looking away from peoples eye while talking. For me personally, I do these sort of things simply because I suck at public speaking thanks to my social anxiety. But for others, they almost pretend to be this way to make the audience believe them.
Authenticity is a very common theme in ethos. It's all about making people believe you. This makes the audience believe you and think that you are telling the truth. To do this people make others like them simply for being who they are. An example of this could be a comedian. A guy gets up on stage and starts telling jokes about a random topic for the point of this post lets say sleep apnea. Now this guy starts telling this joke about sleep apnea and what it is like for him at night. This comedian throughout his routine has made you like him and so you are more willing to believe what he says about sleep apnea because you like who he is.
Reluctant conclusion is the idea that you came to a conclusion because none of the others would have worked. A basic example of this could be a person who loves ice cream. Now this person loves it so much that they want to eat it for every meal. A reluctant conclusion would be that they know that is reality they cannot eat ice cream for every meal.
I find it interesting how disinterested means that they care more about others and less about themselves. I also think it is neat how there are different techniques including dubitatio, authenticity, reluctant conclusion and personal sacrifice to show disinterest and to use in rhetoric.
I also find it interesting that disinterested means that a person cares more about others and less about themselves, and that there are different techniques to show disinterest within rhetoric. These are different approaches to successfully persuade your audience in thinking the same way as you! Presenting yourself as one who truly cares about the audience more than yourself is something that would further connect the audience to you. However, I don't think Dubitatio would be something I would enjoy seeing in a persuader. If they are unsure about themselves, what they are presenting or rhetoric itself, they should not be attempting to assure me of it. Each of these are so unique and they can be used so many ways in rhetoric; I am so glad I learned this, it will change my persuasion game for sure going forward!
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