Tuesday 12 April 2011

Arguing with People

I like arguing with people.  Sometimes I'll act dumb and use the Socratic method of asking seemingly innocuous questions that tease apart the person's position.  Sometimes I'll be aggressive in pointing out the inconsistency of their position and condescendingly laugh at them as I do it.  Either way can be entertaining and fun; and more to the point of this post - it is usually extremely easy.

99.9% of the opinions of 99.9% of the people are arrived at through instinct not logic.  The person then mentally commits to that opinion and looks for arguments to justify their position.  I have encountered very few well thought out, consistent, opinions.

I cannot emphasise enough the truth of this observation; it seems to simply be how the human mind works.  It takes self knowledge and a willingness to re-evaluate every opinion you hold dear to not fall into the same trap.

So if you want to stop talking out your ass, bring a little logic to your thoughts.  Think about it and then arrive at a conclusion, don't have an opinion and then think about it.

8 comments:

CandleintheDark said...

haha spockblocked.

and yes I understand. I always think that if I can so easily pull apart a person's opinion on something, how can they believe it themselves?

I know we can be blind to our own biases but there is a limit. It gets ridiculous at a point

Kelly said...

Better to have an open mind. People are quick to what they think is the one truth about something. To me, it seems there's growth in learning and understanding when you are willing to see many truths about certain subjects. And how do we accomplish this? Through reading, discussion and looking at the topic at different angles or perspectives.

Kelly said...

Is that a SpockTurd or does that woman have a vagina that looks like Spock? Maybe he should face the other way so he can munch on her carpet.

I love tn said...

Stupidity irks me, especially when the person themselves isn't really that stupid, just too lazy to think for 3 minutes. Of course I probably do that as well. I love to argue too... I've been known to talk people out of the correct and logical point of view into believing the wrong one, only to point out afterward that they were right the first time, but that's more about my powers of persuasion and proving how clever (and arrogant) I am.

G said...

lol never seen spockblocked before cool...

and I totally agree - but then I love to argue with stupidity as well

Anonymous said...

You enjoy arguing with stupid people? Sounds like a waste of time to me.

Anonymous said...

He's an aspie, they all do it.

ResCogitans said...

i think tn hit the nail on the head; arguing with stupid people isn't fun - mostly you just bewilder them if you point out their inconsistencies - but pointing out to intelligent people that their cherished beliefs aren't as well thought out as they assumed can be fun because they think they are intelligent and here you are condescendingly pointing out that their beliefs aren't well though out at all. it isn't winning an argument that's fun, it is changing someone's perception of themself.