Perhaps "persuasion" would be better than "arguing." "Arguing" invokes thoughts fighting; attacking the other side's beliefs. The natural response to attack is

Perhaps "persuasion" would be better than "arguing." "Arguing" invokes thoughts fighting; attacking the other side's beliefs. The natural response to attack is defense, no matter how wrong/incorrect the beliefs may be. On the other hand, "persuasion" is working together; starting with where beliefs are common; not where they differ. Persuasion doesn't try to force people to change their mind, instead it offers them the opportunity to change their mind. This allows the other side to change their mind on their own. Most people make decisions (beliefs) based on emotion, then later back them up with logic. So it is usually more effective to work at the emotional level than the logical level. Finally, probably the most important lesson is not all people can be persuaded. If a person doesn't have even the tiniest desire to change their mind, no amount of persuasion/arguing can change them. I learned most of this from direct response marketers, the guys who (are madly successful) at getting you to buy things. This book is based on similar techniques: "Stop your divorce!: How to stop your divorce or lover's rejection ... even if you're the only one who wants to stop it"[1] [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/2114648 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/2114648