I:

Play dirty.

But, win this way at the expense of your reputation.

II:

Evolution: ours is more social & less biological. We’re equipped with several unconscious social weapons, arrows we pull from our quiver to win advantage when we need it. Manipulation of language is a critical skill in the subset of those most useful in getting our way.

Simply:  argue on your terms.

Start at 8:45 for the money shot:

III:

The ‘argument kill switch’ is a social tool you can use to win any argument at any time. Wield it carefully. Consider:

Last year Miss USA was involved in a suit with the pagent company over an alleged sex tape.

It made enough noise to get her invited on Larry King Live.

In the course of that interview Miss USA dodged the questions she wanted to dodge & completely controlled Larry King ON LARRY KING LIVE NO LESS by employing this tactic.

She would interrupt questions that got too close to home on the truth of the sex-tape with “larry, you’re being inappropriate”.

The implication of the statement is huge – she took the conversation from an inquiry by Larry into the news topic at hand & turned it into a question about his character & whether he should be asking her these questions.   She forced Larry to defend himself, to battle with her on a field unrelated to the one he had intended or had prepared for.

She won, easily, by casting doubt on his character and taking the moral high ground – albeit fraudulently.

In simpler terms: if you want to win in a single move, wrestle the argument from being about content… to be about either emotions, morals or identity.

It’s the adult equivalent of the toddlers’ tantrum.  You can’t reason with a screaming 2 year old who feels wronged; you have to take your lumps and ride it out.

So there’s the crux: you can win on a whim by turning the focus to subjectives like ‘how he made you feel’, but, in doing so you run the risk of alienating Larry King.

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

Winston Churchill said that. Smart guy.  I keep it in mind & do in general extend it to include the internet. There are some topics, however, that get exemptions. The prorogue is one.

Given that this governments’ suspension of government for 2 months is comically ridiculous, its fitting then that instead of a lengthy & detailed reply of my own, I simply promote the wisdom & views of a Canadian comedian.

because, honestly: who better to point out ridiculous political behaviour than a political satirist?

click the pic to read rick’s rant:

you can’t always be the strongest or fastest or smartest. you can, however, choose to be the toughest.

If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.

This post could also quiet easily be titled “rules for my unborn children”. Stoicism is a framework for us each to use in constructing our own set of virtues; rules to follow towards the creation of a good life.  Here are mine.

“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.”

“Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both.”

“Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.”

“Show me a man who isn’t a slave; one who is a slave to money, another to ambition; all are slaves to hope or fear.  And there is no state of slavery more disgraceful than one which is self-imposed.”

“If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people’s opinions, you will never be rich.”