What is kairos? Reference.com defines kairos as an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment. To me it means being able to make your argument or proposal at the right time in the right place and to the right audience or group. It would not be favorable to propose the reduction of greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions to a town whose only source of income and employment is a steel mill (wrong audience). To make matters worse, present the same argument to the steel mill employees when they are in the midst of massive layoffs and severe unemployment (wrong time).
Now that I have learned the meaning of Kairos, I realized that I have been utilizing it for many years without knowing it. When I was a detective, the majority of my time was spent conducting face to face interviews. These interviews were with victims of crime, witnesses and the suspects who had committed the crimes. During the interviews with the suspects, it was a cat and mouse game. I knew they committed the crime, but I needed the suspect to tell me in his own words that he did it. In walks kairos. You cannot just walk into an interview and ask the suspect “did you do it?” Timing is everything. You have to ask the right questions at the right time. You have to know when he is ready to talk. You also have to choose the right place to talk. It is not always best to talk to them at the police station. I have had many people confess to me in their own homes. To me this is kairos. The right place at the right time to the right people.
Right now is the appropriate time for argument in support of our military personnel and special operations groups. With the elimination of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. Navy Seals kairos has never been better. The world is a safer place thanks to the brave men and women who serve in our armed forces. This is the right time to thank them and support them. I fell that this is the prime example of kairos. Those Seals were in the right place at the right time and definitely located the right audience.
Works Cited
Ramage, John D., Bean, John C., and Johnson, June. Writing Arguments, A Rhetoric with Readings. 8th Ed. New York, NY. 2010. Print.
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