Logical modeling of deceptive negative persuasion

Abstract

It is often easier to persuade someone that something is impossible to do than that it is possible, since the absence of one necessary resource suffices. This makes lying a tempting tactic for negative persuasion. We consider the problem of finding convincing lies for it as one of maintaining consistency of a set of logical assertions; we can track that consistency with a computer program. We use an example of negative persuasion against electronic voting in elections, where automated analysis then suggests ways to prevent it. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.