According to the book Thank You For Arguing sometimes people need to distuingish between an argument and a fight, and to choose what you want to get out of an argument. You succeed in an argument when you persuade your audience. You have to use the kind of persuasion that might change somebodies mood, mind, or willingness to do something. To win an argument don't try to outscore your opponent. Try instead to get your way. When you decide what you want out of an argument, you can determine how your audience must change for you to achieve that goal.
There are three goals when it comes to persuading people.
1. Stimulate your audience's emotions
- This means to start by changing its mood. Changing the mood is the easiest goal, and usually the one you work on first. The secret, according to Aristotle is not to be content merely with seizing the audience's sympathetic attention.
2. Change it's mind
3. Lastly fill it with desire to act
- What Aristotle means by this is you get the audience to do something or to stop doing it, which is the most difficult part of the process. It requires a different, more personal level of emotion, one of desire.
Sometimes it is hard for me to know when people who are arguing are just arguing, or fighting. I think with fights there are stronger emotions and more finger-pointing, and with arguing there are points that haven't been put in action, which is sometimes where the heat of the argument began. Emotions play a huge role in this! Without them I would not be able to decipher between the two, and therefore be persuaded.
ReplyDeleteI think trying to distinguish a fight versus an argument can be the hardest part. During fights peoples emotions are heightened and are less willing to compromise or think about the opposing argument. Fighting makes arguments less effective which I find funny considering that during fights is when you need to be able to use these techniques the most.
ReplyDeleteI think its very hard to understand if people are arguing with me or trying to cause a fight. I think fights are more serious because people pose arguments everyday. Fights get more in depth and more serious in this case. I feel like peoples actions and emotion cause more fights then they do arguments.
ReplyDeleteI agree with others when they say sometimes it is hard to decipher between an argument and a fight. I feel like one of the bigger problems that people have too is what they really want the outcome to be in the argument. People seem to get caught up in emotions and different things and may lose focus on what they originally started the argument for.
ReplyDeleteA fight is a lot more emotion and less content compared to an argument. An argument is more organized and has a goal in the end, while a fight is emotions being poured out to demean the other person. People get so caught up in the moment when they are heated, they forget what they are even “arguing” about.
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