Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
I thought I’d start off today with a review from one of my awesome listeners, this one was left on Apple podcast by someone with the username girlsruntheworld321: “More than ever, in my lifetime, it is so important to really understand truth. As Beth Moore said, “There is too much pontificating and not enough pondering.” This podcast will help you examine the statements that come your way, whether through conversations, social media, news outlets, books or any other source, and decide if it is true or not true. It will help you identify why it is false and perhaps give you confidence to speak up when faced with fallacies. Nicely done in short bits. Easy to listen to.” Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! Seriously, you guys don’t know how much it encourages me when you leave reviews, and how much it helps other people find the show!
Just last week, one of the teens at the BJJ gym my husband and daughter go to told me, when I was meeting him for the first time, that he listens to my podcast and only recently realized that I was Lena’s Mom! I was so surprised and asked how he had found it, and he said it had shown up as a recommendation on his podcast player. So guys, those reviews really do help!! I’d love to ask you to do a quick favor right now and…well, let’s do a pick your own adventure , lol…would you take about 5 seconds and either leave a 5-star review or would you take 5 seconds and hit the share button and share the podcast with someone you think might enjoy it? It would mean the world to me! Thank you so much!
Ok so let’s dive in! Welcome back to part 2 in our little series on how to argue and debate and do it WELL! Each of these episodes are going to be short & sweet, but the principles are powerful and if you’ll really embrace learning these skills of good debate, it’ll make a huge difference the next time you’re in a conversation with someone you disagree with and will help you create winsome arguments. I don’t want you to be one of those people out there who just resorts to yelling and name-calling, and I also don’t want you to self-censor yourself and just not say anything because you’re afraid you won’t be able to defend your ideas! No, I want you to have some skills that you can use to argue well and debate well, whether it’s with your sibling (ha!), or you’re trying to convince your parents you should be allowed to do or have something, or you’re defending your faith or a cause that you believe in.
So, in the last episode, I gave you the first say to argue well: Learn both sides of the issue. The second way to argue well is:
2. You should have evidence, and it needs to be credible. There are different types of formal debates, one of which is the policy debate, and in this debate you HAVE to have evidence, meaning sources, to back up what you’re saying. And those sources have to be credible! Meaning, you have to first of all know what a credible source is and what it isn’t. And these days, it can take some work to dig through what’s credible and what’s not credible. Can you tell the difference between a fact piece and an opinion piece? Can you spot propaganda so you won’t be using that as the basis for your arguments? What is your foundation to make a solid argument from? And here’s the thing, with all the internet access we have, search engines and now artificial intelligence, you’d think it would be easier than ever to find credible sources, right? Actually, in my experience, it’s the opposite. So many of the search engines are one-sided and are programmed to share a particular bias in the results they give you. I’d contend that it’s HARDER these days to find good sources for both sides of an argument. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible, you’re just going to have to be diligent and work at it. You can’t just take the first few results that pop up when you google something! I promise you, you won’t get both sides of an argument from that!
So when you’re making an argument, it doesn’t work to just say random stuff…you actually have to do some work and make sure what you’re saying is true & accurate. And you’re going to have to work to find things that are credible. And, listen, does everyone always get it right? No, but you need to put the effort in and be willing to admit or change your mind when you get it wrong. But you can’t just expect the other person to go off weak arguments like, “Because I said so.” or “Because I think it should be this way.” or “Because I want it!” That’s not evidence, that’s an opinion.
So, in our example of you arguing with your parents about why you should be allowed to get a dog, you could find some research that talks about how having pets benefits families and is good for kids while they’re growing up. Just be sure it’s from a credible source, not a list you brainstormed with your BFF next door.
Alright, that’s it for today, join me in the next episode where we’ll talk about the 3rd way to argue well, and
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
