How to Argue Productively

[Cornell]

Quite a few years ago, I had the privilege of sitting on a jury (civil trial). We sat and listened to all of the testimony and I thought "ok, we are going to be wrapping up our deliberations really fast b/c it's so obvious what happened here".

When we started deliberating, we took a quick straw vote. It was 11-1 and I was the "1". I was honestly shocked.

I could not believe that my perceptions of what we heard in the testimony was so different than my 11 peers.

This experience made me really question a lot of my thinking -- am I walking around life in complete oblivion of how out-of-step my thinking / opinions are compared to the rest of society?

Nonetheless, that experience has really exposed to me that what often seems so "one way" to me is absolutely not true for others. It's hard for me to remember this when I get caught up in discussions.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thanks for your comments, @CalGalTraveler. I didn’t know that you’re a professor. I always find your posts interesting and now I know why.

Thanks for your kind words. I enjoy your posts too. I became an adjunct professor a while ago as an encore career after spending most of my career as a VP in Corporate America and then founding my own business.

I still have my business but I really enjoy giving back to my graduate students. They are so energetic, hungry for knowledge and I get to shape some really interesting innovations coming out of the university. I love the friendly faculty environment, and I am not required to teach full time so it enables me to run my business and pursue other interests. I can envision retiring from my business in a few years but continuing to teach part-time to keep me connected and challenged.

 

[Fredflintstone]

Quite a few years ago, I had the privilege of sitting on a jury (civil trial). We sat and listened to all of the testimony and I thought "ok, we are going to be wrapping up our deliberations really fast b/c it's so obvious what happened here".

When we started deliberating, we took a quick straw vote. It was 11-1 and I was the "1". I was honestly shocked.

I could not believe that my perceptions of what we heard in the testimony was so different than my 11 peers.

This experience made me really question a lot of my thinking -- am I walking around life in complete oblivion of how out-of-step my thinking / opinions are compared to the rest of society?

Nonetheless, that experience has really exposed to me that what often seems so "one way" to me is absolutely not true for others. It's hard for me to remember this when I get caught up in discussions.

Your comment reminds me of Homer’s famous allurgy.

Perception leads to attitudes which leads to reality. So if you change perception, you change the attitude and the reality changes. That’s what a great lawyer does.

Truth is mere perception of it. That’s why some people say “my truth”

When one discusses and views differ, it’s the perception one is trying to alter...

That’s why ones perception of politics as an example, leads to their attitude and their reality.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bbodb1]

....This experience made me really question a lot of my thinking -- am I walking around life in complete oblivion of how out-of-step my thinking / opinions are compared to the rest of society?...

Or, is the rest of the world content to never question the given, to accept what they are told by those in positions of authority as fact, or even just stop and consider there is a better way? It works in more than one direction!

 

[Cornell]

Or, is the rest of the world content to never question the given, to accept what they are told by those in positions of authority as fact, or even just stop and consider there is a better way? It works in more than one direction!

Hmmmmm.....I never thought about it that way. Thank you!

Nonetheless, jury deliberations took a lot longer than the other 11 expected

 

[bbodb1]

Hmmmmm.....I never thought about it that way. Thank you!

Nonetheless, jury deliberations took a lot longer than the other 11 expected

You've done it now @Cornell - Off to watch 12 Angry Men (the original)!

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

I find this chart helpful when evaluating a source. I like how it separates opinion from news arms of major media.

Similar to a survey sample, I remove the outliers on both the left and right side. And then consider the middle columns knowing which way they lean and factoring that into my analysis. I have found excellent, factual articles on both Fox and CNN and WSJ and NYT, but disregard articles whenever it feels like it is in support of a political narrative on either side.

View attachment 19369

Hi CalGalTraveler ,
In addition to your chart .
My information sources include Canadian News (and some UK. )
based on our residence location.

You may wish to explore .

**********
For Sports
Canada - much more hockey -local through NHL
baseball - Blue Jay centric since they are the national as well as a local team
basketball - Raptors centric since they are the national team as well as Toronto
Football - NFL but also CFL ( Canadian 3 down professional league)

College Sports - much less / there is no significant televised sports ; and the level of interest in the general public is low .

This type of metric applies to other topics - including one’s currently dominating everyone’s news sources .

 

[easyrider]

A long time ago, a top salesperson told me that arguing the merit of a anything is pure stupidity but exchanging opinions is very valuable. Many statements can and will put many people on defense because the wording of the statement creates blame or seems passive aggressive. These types of statements often leave no opening for the other persons opinion which is another problem. The entire point is to leave many openings for others to see your opinion. Not acknowledging the merit of the other persons opinion will usually cause the same with your opinion.

Bill

 

[dgalati]

Your comment reminds me of Homer’s famous allurgy.

Perception leads to attitudes which leads to reality. So if you change perception, you change the attitude and the reality changes. That’s what a great lawyer does.

Truth is mere perception of it. That’s why some people say “my truth”

When one discusses and views differ, it’s the perception one is trying to alter...

That’s why ones perception of politics as an example, leads to their attitude and their reality.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Repeat what you just said but a little slower this time.