Alien Blog - Perelman Argument Table

Editorial Note: Apparently, my Fallacies blog, which was “written like the Declaration of Independence”, was not up to the standards of most people. So, to simplify things and to make your lives less hellish, I have chosen to make a table for the Perelman Argument styles and themes, in regards to my analysis of Raymond E. Fowler’s UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors. Hopefully, by using a table, your brains will not immediately melt.

And now, this memo has gone on too long. Please, continue happily and have a great day!

Joshua Oliver

The Perelman Theme/Tool	The Definition of the Theme/Tool	The Example in the UFO Book
Supposed (Facts/Truth)	Probably Data	Actually, this is rather what is attempted. Raymond tries to suppose truth unto the audience, which the intended audience (the paranoid and those mesmerized by alien life) will interpret as irrefutable proof. Skeptics, like myself, will not be as easily convinced. The examples in the chapters are so scattered that I cannot hope to list all of them. However, a hint is given in the title: “70 Startling Case Histories From Firsthand Reports.” Sounds like good data, right? Here’s the catch: All from the New England area. Small sample size elicits doubt among skeptics, but the intended audience will eat that detail up like a cat at the milk saucer.
Hierarchies – Abstract	Abstract values are not concrete: “truth”, “justice”. This is a hierarchy of abstract values.	There is no RELIABLE proof that alien life has visited the Earth. Fowler, in turn, must appeal to the believers by playing on the abstract values, namely the belief in aliens. Perhaps even, the belief in alien life is universal. Throughout the book, Fowler appeals to these values in alien life to seem credible and sensitive to the extra-terrestrial supporters. Without concrete evidence, all he is left with is suppositions and beliefs.
Division	Breaking something into parts.	I am 3 themes in, and I still do not need to give you page numbers. (I can give it to you from the title alone!) “70 Startling Case Histories From Firsthand Reports.” Take the entire premise of “aliens, man!” and break it into 70 digestible stories that all kinds of people can read. I rest my case.
Example - Single	One event is an example.	There are 70 examples of aliens, from 70 “reliable” cases. But you want page numbers, right?  Page 6, Chapter 1 “It Started with a Hamburger”. I quote the description that Enrico Gilberti gives Fowler of the UFO. “It was like two hamburger buns, one of top of the other, with a sandwiched piece of meat sticking out all around.” That is a classic UFO description, all right. So, clearly then, aliens!
Illustration – Presence	Event strikes the imagination in connection with a rule.	Take the previous theme’s example. The “Hamburger UFO”. It defies the standard thought of conventional aircraft. We understand a general sense of what UFOs look like (or may look like), but we also think about how they are different from our space shuttles, airplanes, helicopters, and jets. They manage to hover or use aerospace with a design we humans have yet to master. Perhaps they have better technology? Perhaps they have mastered aerodynamics? Perhaps the aliens are smarter than us, and we just do not understand air travel?
Definition - Normative	Prescriptive: what it should mean.	I am quoting Fowler on the page before the acknowledgements and table of contents, on the dedication page: “To my father, whose lifelong interest and experience with extraordinary phenomena has taught me over the years that understanding and progress do not come by ignoring or ridiculing the inexplicable. Rather, they come by facing the problem squarely through investigation, acknowledgement and study.” So, to Fowler, a true UFO spotter is one who is the best at investigating and studying UFOs, despite the fact that no true evidence of UFOs reliably exists. Also, he believes that study, investigations, and belief in UFOs alone will reveal the truth. He “acknowledges” the existence of UFOs, but what of the claims from the skeptics and critics against UFO sightings? Just pretend that the critics do not exist? That is so professional, Mr. Fowler!
Justice	A rule which requires identical treatment for beings or situations seen as the same.	This applies to almost all aspects of UFO investigations, but I will give a specific example. In the Chicken Coop Caper case, Fowler states this little detail on page 187: “The sideways zigzag descent or falling-leaf motion is a consistent flight characteristic of UFOs. The boys, not well-read on the UFO subject, described this maneuver in such a way that it obviously did not presuppose prior knowledge of this peculiar characteristic.” The application of this rule (or “pattern”) is that all UFOs can perform a zig-zag aerial maneuver, despite there being no physical evidence of this being the case. The supposition and characteristic itself is okay, as there are no true details. However, the application of this characteristic in all cases seems a bit ludicrous. Perhaps all UFOs and alien space craft can zig-zag their way out of danger, but until I see several saucer manage such motions with my own eyes or with untouched film footage/video documentation, I will remain skeptical and critical of this characteristic in applied circumstances.

T

T

That was all the Perelman Argument Themes and Tools (or PATT, for short) that I could identify. There are likely more in the text that I missed. If you ever pick up Raymond E. Fowler’s UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors (1974) and spot a theme or tool that I did not detect, then feel free to let me know.

Unlike Fowler, I can take criticism and disbelief. 

Thank you for reading this post. I will see you fine people next time. Hopefully, I will not be abducted and probed...again... 

Oh, no! I hear those engines again! I gonna run! See ya next time!