Judging a Book By Its Author: Why Ad Hominem Attacks Work

This past midterm election was touted as one of the worst throughout history as far as attack ads go. I find this argument unconvincing but it nevertheless brings up an interesting point. Many of us are digusted by attack ads. We wish that polticians would seek to get elected based on their own merit rather than devaluing their opposition. And it isn't only in the political realm that we see this. Who hasn't seen a laundry detergent commercial that shows that Brand A clearly works better than Brand B? Typically, we don't like to see competitors bashing one another. So, why do they continue to do so?

Because it works. Many people willingly admit that they voted for a candidate simply because they did not like who he was running against. Likewise, I would venture to say that people choose many of the things they buy because they heard bad things about the alternatives. Attacking competitors, as long as it works, is therefore beneficial to companies and politicians alike. Belittling the name of the opposition is a surefire way to make your name sound a lot more pleasant.

Why do we think this way? I think it really boils down to the concept of trust. We don't trust or distrust things. We trust or distrust people. We recognize that any given product is nothing apart from its producer and any given policy is nothing apart from the politician propogating it. This is why many of us will only buy a car if it's a European car, for example. We may have a perception that they make better cars. This is also why we care so deeply about a political candidate's background. We want to know who the person really is that will be leading us. People are dynamic. People change. Things are not so. We cannot trust laundry detergent, but we can trust Tide. Tide, in our minds, is a 'person' of sorts.

Ad hominem attacks will work as long as there are 'hominems.' As long as there are people, we will base our decisions on whether or not those people can be trusted. Reputation is all we have in this world. It doesn't matter how good our product or position is but only how good it is perceived to be--only how good we are perceived to be.