On the law of appearing composed

With all the scientific advancements in our time one thing that still seems to hold sway (in our society as well as many others) is the ability not so much to talk in some high-class language, but to put together a cool calm appearance when arguing. Now I'm not saying this is bad in itself, but rather that when it takes precedence over the content of what is being said (and even more important the content of the context in which it's being said—I'm speaking of history here) then we can say that appearance becomes a hindrance. But these things do seem to matter. And it matters that there is no proper way of getting beyond this because we do need to see beyond heuristics and see the things that matter and in this way better understand our world and be able to work out solutions better.

Some people may say that content matters in the end, but this 'progress always works' view of the world seems fanciful.



And so the saying (worked into a novella that I've been working on): "The man who's drowning has less eloquence than the man on the boat"

Thoughts?