Cara G's Response to "How to Aruge Effectively"

Initially after reading Barry’s article, I dismissed the advice as humorous sarcasm and assumed none of it was really meant to be useful. But as I was thinking about what to write in my response, I realized something. The “advice” Barry gives is, ironically, actually how most people argue. Take political commentators and politicians for example. Glenn Beck’s arguments have been criticized for excessively comparing Obama and his tactics to Hitler and the Nazis. Almost every politician uses “meaningless but weighty sounding” words and phrases on a regular basis. Facts and quotes given in speeches or debates are often cited incorrectly and taken out of context, which is essentially making things up.

But politicians aren’t the only ones who use Barry’s techniques.

Think about the last time you were in an argument. Unless you’re a champion debater or something along those lines, I’m sure you did at least one of the things Barry listed in his article. I know I have. When I argue with family members, I make stuff up, use big words that don’t even make sense in the context of the argument and exaggerate the facts. We all argue fallaciously at times. That’s why Barry’s response is so hilarious.

Obviously, the main objective of this article is to be funny. But they wouldn’t put it in RFIW if that was its only purpose. Sometimes the best way to teach someone how to do something is to tell them what not to do and I believe that was Barry’s intent; to teach us sneakily.

But, I believe there is one theme of Barry’s definition of “arguing effectively” that is actually effective, and that is arguing with passion and confidence. Humans are driven by emotion. So even if your argument is logically ridiculous, if you put enough of your heart into what you’re arguing, people might actually believe you.

Even though the article was relatively short, I believe it packed a punch. I’m definitely going to try out the word “parameters” the next time I get a chance.