For this spring break, I really wanted to go to Dubai because a lot of my friends were going there. However, my family wasn't traveling because my dad has some work he needs to take care of. Luckily one friend of mine from school who is going to Dubai with her mother actually asked me to join her on the trip and I was overjoyed, regardless of considering the fact that I would probably never get permission to go to a different country with a friend. Despite that, I excitedly told people that I knew who live there and later explained that my mom is paranoid and wouldn't agree whereas my dad does, to which one of the responses I got said, "do some emotional attyachar. your mom should be cool" I didn't understand what that meant at first because it is not a word I am familiar with and probably comes from Indian vocabulary so I had to ask what they meant and turns out that it means "blackmail" and not "act" as I would have thought otherwise. And then, I thought, might as well try my luck, obviously not exactly in the blackmail sense, but in a way that I thought would appeal to my mom. "Amma, don't you think this trip will make me a lot more independent? Don't you think I'm sensible enough to handle myself the way that you have raised me?" and other dramatic questions of the like. These were all things my mom would be sensitive to seeing as she wants me to be self-relying and responsible and it twists my arguments slightly as it makes it seem I am going to prove myself to her and not just because I want to go for my own enjoyment. This kind of sentimental appeal manipulates the listener because it makes them consider themselves and adds a deeper purpose even to a superficial argumen, hence it is a fallacy. Did mom agree after listening to my emotional "attyachar"? No, she is great at this and does it for my own good. However it is a way to exploit arguments to people and make them seem really meaningful, heart-rending and for the greater good when they actually may not be.
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