Part 1: Introduction

Arguing is seen as something different to different people. It’s seen as something bad, something good, something to be avoided, something to be proud of — but everyone does it. Repeatedly and almost daily.

Personally, I’ve always viewed arguing as another martial art — the vocal equivalent to kung fu — and have spent most of my life honing it as a skill. I am happy to say that arguing is one of the things I do well, and I do it for both recreation and personal development. I see true arguers as being akin to the ronin, in that they are highly skilled warriors with no master. It ain’t easy to be a great arguer, but I believe I can help you to get to a point where you can hold your own.

Over the course of my growth as an arguer, and the discovery of my need to verbally battle people who don’t know what they’re talking about, I’ve discovered rules and etiquette to proper arguing. I’ve also found techniques and strategies you can use to further your cause. Remember, only through challenging other’s beliefs can you really prove what they believe in.

Be forewarned, the path of the true arguer is not an easy one. People will get angry with you, and not always for reasonable reasons. Most people hold being right and wrong as the validation of who they are as a person. It’s almost impossible for them to separate the information they have in their head with their own value. If you tell them they are wrong, in their eyes you are saying they are stupid. Logically, this doesn’t make sense, but…well, there you go.

Being argumentative gets you snide remarks and insults, like “Know-it-all” and “Smarty-pants”, and phrases get thrown at you with scorn, like “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”. Nice. But let me ask you this: what would be the problem with any of that, assuming it was true? Wouldn’t you like to “know it all”? Isn’t that the goal of any intellectual? Wouldn’t a truly smart person actually have an “answer for everything”? Wouldn’t that be something you’d strive towards?

Being argumentative takes discipline, and very thick skin. It takes being able to listen to someone, no matter how unreasonable and illogical they are, and being able to absorb and analyze whatever they’re saying. It takes endurance, as most people won’t drop their ideas until they feel they’ve exhausted every effort. And sometimes it takes being sneaky, and manipulative. Don’t worry, I don’t advocate cheating in an argument — we’re not going in for the metaphorical kick-in-the-crotch with my methods. No, these are closer to moves in the aforementioned fighting skill; sweeps, kicks, punches, knees, elbows and the like, but all verbally.

When starting out, you will get frustrated. We’ve all been there. Meeting people who seem immune to logic and reason, people who will not believe you even if you told them the sky was blue, while you were standing outside on a clear day. People have a hard time accepting anything but what they’ve already internalized and decided is fact. And the urge to give up the art of arguing will be strong and overwhelming. But you must persevere. Because arguing reveals the truth. It shreds illusion and exposes reality. It forces people to think about what they believe from every angle, and aids understanding. And you my friend, can be the vehicle for that understanding.

So, welcome to my web series, How to Win Every Argument, which I will update weekly, every Friday, if you choose to join me on this journey. Afterwards, you should be unassailable by any wandering arguer, no matter their skill level. And you will know that you may not know everything, but that everything you believe you know has been examined and analyzed enough for you to feel confident in what you think.

Next week: We define our terms. What is an argument? How is it different from a debate? Or a fight?

One of the things that fascinates me is entertainment directed at toddlers. Not children in general, mind you. Actual, non-English-speaking, full-on stumbling, bottle-waving toddlers. I know that the children’s channels on television are more aimed at either true babies, or fully-communicative children, but the fact remains that toddlers watch TV. Not with the critical eye of the discerning 4-year-old, nor the quiet acceptance of the 6-month-old, but they do watch.

I should know. My 15-month-old loves television.

For the record, lest you question my parenting (judgmental bastards!), we leave the TV on the kids’ channel as background noise while playing or eating, so my daughter doesn’t just sit, slack-jawed and drooling, watching the screen. That’s more my game, and I’m fine with that. But, as the so-called “idiot box” is on, she does pay it attention at certain points, and ignores it at other times. And while I spend time with her, I’d be completely blind if I didn’t notice most of what goes on in the land of kids’ shows, or the weird genre it is.

Continue reading…

That’s right! The Logic Bomb v2 drops on you with a blast today! I beg of you, send me your feedback! Today’s episode deals primarily with explanation of the new format, and addresses some criticisms the earlier episodes got, as well as a look at various codes of ethics. Hope you enjoy it!

As per usual, the opening and closing theme is WalMart Employee by Adam Laing, with the added pleasure of Quinn Jones’ opening vocals, and the break music is Your Love also by Adam Laing.

Ah, there we go.

Welcome, one and all, to the upgraded and much nicer looking Jonsian Logic! As you can see, we’ve done some massive renovation, something akin to knocking down the drywall and slapping on some high end latex paint. The look has changed, and to go with it, the focus has been refined.

The purpose of Jonsian Logic when it began was, at its core, to cut through the societal pressure and bullshit that the world slings in your face, which stops people from being reasonable and logical creatures. Life is a simple equation, if you forget all the posturing and whining – cause and effect, psychological fuck-ups, and animal instinct are always swept under the carpet, but put quite simply, if you take into account all these things, and drown out the white noise that is the Politically Correct movement, life is pretty straight-forward.

My goal is simple: to put life under a spotlight, and strip away the things we’ve been trained to believe that short-circuit the reason part of our brains. And for a little while, the focus on that has been a bit…skewed. Not to fear, though, poppets, as I’ve re-devoted myself to the Logic, and the Logic Bomb podcast, and have even decided to throw in a new feature – once a week, I plan on posting a chunk of my self-help book idea, “Jonsian Logic – How to Win Every Argument”. I know this is counter-productive, because if people actually listen to me, I won’t have the massive advantage I do in my arguing.

But I have a dream. A dream of a world drawn by logic, where emotion fills its rightful space as the crayons in the colouring book of life.

The Logic Bomb is coming back, in a new and hopefully improved form – rather than being based on problems emailed in, it will now be topic based, while still just boiling down to me espousing my particular viewpoints on life issues and concepts. But hey, if people liked it before, they’ll find more of the same to enjoy.

So, enjoy the new Jonsian Logic – hopefully more of the same old stuff, just packaged up prettier and with a little extra special sauce. And remember, you can always email me at jason (at) jonsianlogic (dot) com, or now, follow me on Twitter!