38 Ways To Win An Argument | Page 3

r eli g ion " is desc rib ed
by an adh ere n t as "p ie ty " or "g od li n ess " and by an oppon en t as "b igo tr y " or "sup ers tit ion. "
I n o th er w ord s, in se t w hat you in te nd to p rov e in to th e defin iti on o f th e id ea.
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T o m ak e you r oppon en t ac ce pt a propo sit ion , you must giv e him an oppo sit e, coun te r- propo siti on
a s w ell .
If th e con tr a st i s gla ring, th e oppon en t w ill acc ep t you r propo siti on to avo id b eing p ara dox ic a l.
E xam ple : If you wan t him to ad m it t hat a boy must t o ev ery th ing th at his fa th er te ll s him t o do, ask h im,
" w heth er in all t hing s w e m ust ob ey or dis ob ey ou r pare n ts ."
O r , if a th ing is s aid to o cc u r "o fte n " you are to und ers ta nd fe w or m any tim es, th e oppon en t w ill sa y
" m any. "
I t is as th o ugh you were to pu t gra y n ex t to b la ck an d ca ll i t w hite ; or gra y n ex t t o white and call i t bla ck.
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T ry to b lu ff you r oppon en t.
If he or sh e has an sw ere d se v era l of you r qu esti on withou t the a nsw ers tu rn ing ou t in fa vo r of you r
c on clu sion, adv an ce you r con clu sion tr iu m ph an tl y, ev en if it do es no t fo ll ow .
If you r op pon en t i s sh y or stup id, and you you rs e lf po ssess a grea t deal of im pud en ce a nd a good vo ic e ,
t h e tec hn iqu e m ay su cc eed.
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If you wis h to adv an ce a propo siti on th at i s dif fic u lt t o p rov e, pu t it asid e fo r th e m om en t.
I n stea d, sub mit fo r you r oppon en t's ac ce p ta n ce or r eje cti on so m e tr u e propo siti on, as though you w is h ed
t o d ra w you r proo f fro m it .
S hou ld th e oppon en t re je c t it beca use he su sp ec ts a tr ic k, you can ob ta in you r tr iu m ph by sho wing how
a b su rd th e opp onen t i s to re je c t an obv iou sly tr u e propo siti on.
S hou ld th e oppon en t ac cep t it , you no w hav e re a son on you r