[optimus_prime]

argument:
(noun) an oral disagreement; verbal opposition; contention; altercation: a violent argument.

This thread is about arguments, which is not to be confused with debates. Although both hold certain similiarities, debates are usually more intellectually focused, whereas arguments usually are on the grounds of determining who is right, and pointing out the faults that the opposite party has made.

An argument is, in most cases, on a more personal level than a debate is.

I would like to tell about a recent argument that I was involved in. The argument occured at work, with my daily co-worker. Without going into a long detailed story and avoided any applicable work-related jargon, I will briefly state that the argument was about who was doing more than their fair share of the workload.

A task that is usually done together, was 80% completed by me, and after coming to realization that I had done most of the task, I stopped, and saw fit that it seemed only right for my co-worker to complete the remaining 20% of the chore.

When my co-worker came around about an hour later, and saw that I didnt completely finish the entire task by myself, he became enraged and inquired why I didnt finish it. I informed him of my thoughts accordingly, and he then said he was too busy with other tasks to have any spare time to finish the remaining 20%.

His argument seemed logical at first, until I shot him down by telling him that he could not have been non-stop busy, because I caught him from a distance talking to another co-worker for about a good 30 or 40 minutes.

when he realized that i saw him doing that, he got even more irrate and began using profane expletives, deriding my work ethics, and other of the related sorts.

now, in all fairness, i should mention to you that this particular coworker has been through a lot lately on the homefront. His elder brother passed away in april, and just recently his wife of 3 yrs along with his baby daughter left him, because he had some sort of domestic altercation with his spouse (which he naturally declines to elaborate on).

to make matters worse, his wife left him the day prior to their anniversary date of when they first met,.thus he had romantic dinner plans with his wife that never went into fruition.

so, you can easily see where i am going with this now,..he already had a ton of bricks on his shoulders, and he blew out all steam on me with this minor disagreement on work.

he apologized to me about his irrational behavior the next work day, and i told him that at the tail end of the argument, it had dawned upon me the level of psychological impact that tolled on him from recent family matters he had gone thru, and i knew it was the core catalyst for much of his rage.

but aside from just this story, Ive often noticed that when you engage into a heated argument such as this, you start to learn many things. Because, in a lot of these situations, the opposing member is likely to voice their true feelings about you.

as young children we spoke out loud whatever was on our minds, and a lot of the time this got us into grave dangers. sometimes it got us into fist fights at school, being grounded, spanked, mouth washed out with soap, etc.

as adults, we are taught to suppress our thoughts, and rearrange them into more pleasant sounding responses.

allow me to demonstrate what I mean, with this example scenario:

you are riding on a train and seated next to you is a lady who is coughing sporatically and he two kids are loud and disruptive, destroying any chance of relaxation you may want.

you think: "man, this lady needs to stop coughing, and her two brat kids..does she ever spank them? she just lets them run wild, screaming. i am sooo tired, i wish they would shut up so i can take a nap...GOD,..SHUT THE LIVING HELL UP,..PLEEEEASE...why did i get seated next to her...she is sooo annoying"

you say: "uh,.hello ma'am..are those youre two children there? they are quite loud, do you think it would be possible for them to hold the noise down a tad bit,..i just got back from a business conference, and my head hurts. thanks for your understanding"

my point is that, regarding arguments, I think they are healthy to an extent. They release pent up aggressions. in the example above, this person was holding back many bad thoughts. had that turned into a full blown argument, many of those thoughts would have been voiced aloud for all to hear. so, sometimes, during the course of an argument, you get to hear and know what other people really think about you. the truth flows out like a river.

just the same, i got to hear many choice things that my coworker thought about me...many of these thoughts would have still been suppressed had the argument never transpired.

[Despondent]

The new england skeptics society has a long list of fallacial argument tactics.

I hate those people.