I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts over the past few months. Most have just washed over me. On my latest extended drive, though, I listened to an episode of Hidden Brain that bucked the trend. I used to listen to Hidden Brain on a regular basis but hadn’t done so in some time. Now I can’t remember why.

The episode delved into the construction of arguments and how we often err when doing so. People making an argument will often stack as many supporting premises as possible in support of their conclusion. The underlying rationale is that more is better and each additional premise is additive and increases the strength of the argument. This isn’t actually what occurs, though, when people listen to arguments. Instead of adding supporting premises, listeners average them. This means that adding weaker supporting arguments is actually detrimental in convincing someone; a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You’d be better off only given the strongest argument(s), even if there is only one, than in filling a quota of three or five with weaker arguments. The framing anecdote of the episode was congressional testimony concerning funding for PBS. There were hours and hours (not played during the episode) of people discussing different statistics and providing lots of different reasons why there should be continued funding for public broadcasting. It all blurred together and became noise. Then Mr. Rogers drilled a single point and only a single point and in doing so single-handedly swayed the committee members—a masterclass in persuasion.

The Episode is “Less is More” in case anyone wants to listen on their own podcast player.