{"id":3832,"date":"2024-09-12T08:58:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T14:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/?p=3832"},"modified":"2024-09-12T08:58:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T14:58:30","slug":"arguments-steal-mind-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/arguments-steal-mind-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Arguments Steal Mind Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Have you ever noticed that arguments are rarely &#8220;won?&#8221; Even if you think you won an argument, what did you win? If there really is a loser, he at least learned something, right? What did you get? Ego satisfaction, debating practice, and diminished mind power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arguing Diminishes Mind Power?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are times when things need to be debated, but most of the time, it really isn&#8217;t productive. Do you want to argue the point? What do you get from a useless debate, and more importantly, what do you lose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing is certain. A person listening to arguments can learn something from both sides, but what about the participants? If your opponent makes a really good point, do you say, &#8220;Hey, you&#8217;re right!&#8221; or do you more often just look for a better argument?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arguing too much gets you in the habit of looking for arguments more than for truth. You also get deeper into your thinking ruts the more you defend a position. In a rut and ignoring the truth? If that doesn&#8217;t sound like it&#8217;s good for mind power, it&#8217;s because it isn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mind Power From Listening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you say the moon is closer, and I say the sun is, one of us has to be right. If you say nurture is more important, and I say nature is, we&#8217;re both right. The first argument has clearly defined terms. This isn&#8217;t common, and even here, what&#8217;s the point of arguing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the second example, our arguments have to do with values and experiences. We&#8217;ve seen different things in life, and we could spend a lifetime defining &#8220;important,&#8221; or I could shut up and listen. My mind becomes more powerful with the addition of your ideas and knowledge. Listening is the better way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To break the habit of arguing, purposely ask for peoples opinions, and listen without saying anything. You can ask them to clarify, but don&#8217;t offer one contrary idea. Do this enough, and you&#8217;ll be surprised how much you learn. Some of us are also surprised by how difficult this simple technique can be, but it works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever noticed that arguments are rarely &#8220;won?&#8221; Even if you think you won an argument, what did you win? If there really is a loser, he at least learned something, right? What did you get? Ego satisfaction, debating practice, and diminished mind power. Arguing Diminishes Mind Power? There are times when things need [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3834,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3832\/revisions\/3834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proliberation.com\/underthesun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}