Win an Argument by Asking the Other Person to Outline a Plan

Illustration for article titled Win an Argument by Asking the Other Person to Outline a Plan



Even if we only have a superficial understanding of a topic we still tend to form an opinion about it. This is a mental shortcut that often makes it so we have a complete opinion about something with no actual clue about why or how it'd work. So, if you want to derail someone's argument, the best thing you can often do is ask them to explain exactly how their idea would work:





It's a pretty common tendency, and if you're trying to convince someone that you're right about something, ask them to explain precisely how it'd work. As we've pointed out before, the Socratic method is a great place to start that line of inquiry. Just be prepared to do that for your own argument as well.

The best way to win an argument | BBC Future

Photo by Guian Bolisay.


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"Guns are the suxxor! We should ban all of them!"

"How would you go about doing that?"

"...Why do you hate the childrins so much!?!"