Being the Adult

Why reminding yourself to not act like a child when you get in an argument matters.

I am the first one to admit that I don’t always practice what I preach. I have this cool new course on how to win arguments without arguing (see: https://humanistlearning.com/socratic-jujitsu/) and I still find myself doing everything I say not to do in my course.

Whenever I act childish, I get the exact results I predict I would get in my course. I don’t win and I look like a childish idiot.

3 Ways to Lose an Argument

We all argue. We can’t help ourselves. Disagreements between humans are common. The question for those of us trying to be enlightened is this: How can we disagree civilly while still making our case? How can we convince others we are right while still respecting our opponent despite the fact they are clearly idiots? 

The fact that this is how most of us approach arguments and how we think of our goals while arguing highlights how unenlightened the very idea of winning an argument really is. Regardless, if you really want to win an argument or at least not lose an argument here are three things to avoid.