A question beats an assertion
The strongest move in most arguments is a question with a real cost behind it.
Asserting makes them defend. Asking makes them think. 'What would you cut instead?' 'What would change your mind?' 'And then what happens?' A good question is an argument the other person has to make for you.
Instead of
That'll never work in practice.
Try
Walk me through year two — what happens when the funding runs out?
Try it today
Replace one assertion today with the question it was hiding.
The science
Chris Voss (Never Split the Difference, 2016): calibrated 'how' and 'what' questions make the other side solve your problem. Socratic questioning is the two-thousand-year-old version.
Where you'd actually use it
- ⚖️ Ethics & Big QuestionsClassic drill. You've said you'd pull the lever; now the follow-up is trying to force you to push someone to their death. Either a…
- ⚖️ Ethics & Big QuestionsSomeone has just reframed the whole thing as accountability, which makes any objection sound like you want people to get away with…
Next lesson
- ⚖️ Compared to what?Every argument about risk is secretly an argument about the alternative.
- 🔉 Lower your voice, not your standardThe calm one is winning, whatever's being said.
- 🔍 Spot the fallacy — name it gentlyYou don't need the Latin. You need the pattern.