Spot the claim
See the hidden skeleton inside any argument — by pulling a few apart yourself.
No reading first. Someone below is trying to talk you into something. Tap the one sentence that's their actual point. The thing they want you to walk away believing.
Nice. That point is the claim. But it wasn't standing alone. The other two sentences each had a job. Every argument has three:
So: the reason answers "why should I believe that?" The evidence is something you could look up. Miss either one and the claim is just someone being loud.
One more, fresh topic. Spot the claim:
That's the whole trick. Once you can split any argument into claim, reason and evidence, you stop getting talked into things by tone. A big claim with nothing under it? You'll spot it a mile off.
Catch one in the wild
Find one argument today (an advert, a headline, a mate saying "you should…") and pull it apart out loud.
What's the one thing they want you to accept?
No reason? That's your first red flag.
Could you actually check it — or is it just a confident voice?
What to remember
- Claim = the point. Reason = why. Evidence = the checkable fact.
- Split any argument into those three and you can judge it. Otherwise you are only reacting to it.
- A loud claim with no evidence underneath is a red flag.