Arguing, The Art of Being Right

So, you are at work and a coworker expresses a view which directly contradicts your own...That or you are just in a salty mood and thus decide to engage in a healthy dose of arguing. Now, Can arguing be helpful? Yes, Can arguing be not-helpful? Also yes. The point of an argument is to change someone's mind but that can be hard if the thing you are arguing about is a deeply held philosophical conviction such as gun control. With that in mind, the most counter productive thing one can do in a debate is to make the other party look stupid. Making someone look stupid in a debate makes them less likely to change their mind and conform to yout ideas, even in the presence of proof and reason. Take Ben Shapiro for example, Ben Shaperio Is a political debater who has a reputation of being ruthless and straight shooting. Bens strategy is to use his opponents words and argument against them while using obvious facts to trap them in a series of contradicting statements. This enevidably causes his opponents to make a fool of themselves and that is counter productive given your goal is to change their mind. You want to sympathise with your opponent and not get into a yelling match because that just leaves everyone mad and doesn't get anywhere. And by sympathise I don't mean to give up your beliefs but to express that you understand where your opponent is coming from but and affirm your position while doing so. This humanizes you and your opponent and if your opponent feels heard, he or she is more likely to open up to you and the ideas you are propositioning. And I don't think it needs to be said that name calling is ineffective and childish, after all, do you really think that calling your opponent a poopy head is really going to make them think “oh hey, I see what you mean. I'm going to throw out all of my ideas and adopt yours as replacements!”...Ya...No, That's not happening. Instead, Treat each other like humans because at the end of the day, both of you want to be listened to but neither are willing to try.

Now, We looked at changing minds but that isn't the only way to win a debate, sometimes your goal isn't to change minds but to humiliate your opponent for social reasons. First things first, Know your argument inside out. Keep in touch with the news and current hot topics. These topics (For Canadians) may include, Pipelines, Climate change, Communism, Liberals or Conservatives. By knowing your position you can defend it using facts and logic. Second, Practice your arguments. Look for flaws and inconsistencies, Look at your arguments and positions and find any way someone could counter them and find an answer. This ensures that when you are debating that if your opponent wants to pick holes in your position that you can rebut with facts and logic. “But Marcus” I hear you ask, “How do I articulate my position?” and to that I say...PRACTICE! If you practice your argument and are comfortable with it's flaws, then you should be ready to go out and use it in the real world. You will mess up sometimes and succeed others, but the fact of the matter is that arguing is an art and like all arts it requires practice to master. So don't get discouraged if you lose but rather evaluate your strategy and head right back into the game.

Thanks for dropping in! If you have any corrections or suggestions for future articles then let me know. Thanks and have a great day!