Beware the ‘Debater’

One of the most time-wasting and exhausting exercises I can think of is being sucked into a debate — especially if the debater has tapioca between his ears. An argumentative person is not only unpleasant to be around, he also can consume large chunks of your time — time that could otherwise be used in beneficial ways.

An accomplished, incurable debater has the potential to frustrate and exhaust you to an alarming degree. Because relationships with debaters have such great potential for slowing you down, it’s important to be able to recognize when you’re in close proximity to such an individual.

To help toward that end, I have summarized below the Ten Dirty Tricks of Debating, which are the most commonly used tools of the debater’s trade.

DIRTY TRICK #1: THE FALSE PREMISE

Basing one’s argument on a false premise is one of the oldest tricks of clever debaters. It’s a mainstay of most political debates, wherein politicians find that they can slide a false premise by sitcom-damaged brains without much effort. Worse, supposedly opposing parties (as in, Democrats and Republicans — or, more appropriately, Demopublicans) begin most of their debates with joint false premises, thus giving viewers all the more reason to assume that such premises are correct.

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