Stukel- Week 2

       Thank You for Arguing has been an extremely interesting read thus far. I have learned a multitude of new ways to communicate my needs, thoughts, and emotions persuasively.  A few of these strategies have really resonated with me especially. For instance, the strategy of expressing disinterest, making your point appear beneficial to the reader’s well being rather than yourself. I found this especially interesting as it allows you to guide the reader or listener’s thoughts in some ways. By making your point seem beneficial to them they will contemplate it much more, whether they necessarily agree with it or not. Another strategy we learned was concession to opposition, by agreeing with your opponent on certain topics, you can win your argument in the long run. This is useful because many people focus on wanting their opponent to be wrong, rather than focusing on winning an argument. It has made me look at daily conversations in an entirely new way. Since reading this book I have began to notice these strategies in everyday life. While these strategies have been used for ages, knowing their names and understanding them allows me to look at an argument someone is making and better analyze it than ever before. For instance in Foer’s book: Eating Animals, Foer practices the strategy of disinterest to a great extent. He outlines not only the moral cost of supporting the meat industry, but also the cost to your health of ingesting meat that has been prepared in such horrible conditions.