PART II

Interpersonal Rethinking

Opening Other People’s Minds

CHAPTER 5

Dances with Foes

How to Win Debates and Influence People

Exhausting someone in argument is not the same as

convincing him.

—ʖʋʏ ʍʔʇʋʆʇʔ

At thirty-one, Harish Natarajan has won three dozen

international debate tournaments. He’s been told it’s a world record. But his opponent today presents a unique challenge.

Debra Jo Prectet is a prodigy hailing from Haifa, Israel. She’s

just eight years old, and although she made her first foray into public

debating only last summer, she’s been preparing for this moment for

years. Debra has absorbed countless articles to accumulate

knowledge, closely studied speechwriting to hone her clarity, and

even practiced her delivery to incorporate humor. Now she’s ready to

challenge the champion himself. Her parents are hoping she’ll make

history.

Harish was a wunderkind too. By the time he was eight, he was

outmaneuvering his own parents in dinner-table debates about the

Indian caste system. He went on to become the European debate

champion and a grand finalist in the world debate championship,

and coached the Filipino national school debate team at the world

championship. I was introduced to Harish by an unusually bright

former student who used to compete against him, and remembers

having lost “many (likely all)” of their debates.

Harish and Debra are facing off in San Francisco in February

2019 in front of a large crowd. They’ve been kept in the dark about

the debate topic. When they walk onstage, the moderator announces

the subject: should preschools be subsidized by the government?

After just fifteen minutes of preparation, Debra will present her

strongest arguments in favor of subsidies, and Harish will marshal

his best case against them. Their goal is to win the audience over to

their side on preschool subsidies, but their impact on me will be

much broader: they’ll end up changing my view of what it takes to

win a debate.

Debra kicks off with a joke, drawing laughter from the crowd by

telling Harish that although he may hold the world record in debate

wins, he’s never debated someone like her. Then she goes on to

summarize an impressive number of studies—citing her sources—

about the academic, social, and professional benefits of preschool

programs. For good measure, she quotes a former prime minister’s

argument about preschool being a smart investment.

Harish acknowledges the facts that Debra presented, but then

makes his case that subsidizing preschools is not the appropriate

remedy for the damage caused by poverty. He suggests that the issue

should be evaluated on two grounds: whether preschool is currently

underprovided and underconsumed, and whether it helps those who

are the least fortunate. He argues that in a world full of trade-offs,

subsidizing preschool is not the best use of taxpayer money.

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📚هایلایت قسمت 64 کتاب Think Again

✅ Exhausting someone in argument: tiring someone out during a debate, خسته کردن کسی در بحث

✅ Convince someone: make someone believe or accept something, قانع کردن کسی

✅ Opponent: a person you compete or argue against, حریف / رقیب

✅ Unique challenge: a special or uncommon difficulty, چالش منحصربه‌فرد

✅ Prodigy: a young person with exceptional talent or ability, نابغه‌ی کم‌سن

✅ Make a foray into (something): begin to take part in an activity for the first time, وارد شدن به حوزه‌ای برای اولین بار

✅ Absorb knowledge: take in and understand information deeply, جذب و درک دانش

✅ Hone (one’s) skills: improve or sharpen skills, مهارت‌های خود را صیقل دادن / تقویت کردن

✅ Incorporate humor: include humor in something (like a speech), طنز را در چیزی گنجاندن

✅ Make history: do something that will be remembered, کار تاریخی انجام دادن

✅ Wunderkind: a child prodigy, کودک نابغه

✅ Outmaneuver someone: gain an advantage over someone by being clever or strategic, با زرنگی از کسی پیشی گرفتن / شکست دادن

✅ Face off: compete directly or confront each other, رو در رو رقابت کردن

✅ Kept in the dark (about something): not informed or told about something, در بی‌خبری نگه داشتن

✅ Announce the subject: officially tell what the topic is, موضوع را اعلام کردن

✅ In favor of (something): supporting an idea or proposal, در حمایت از / موافق با

✅ Win the audience over: persuade the listeners to agree with you, نظر مخاطبان را به دست آوردن

✅ Kick off with (something): begin with something, شروع کردن با

✅ Draw laughter (from the crowd): make people laugh, باعث خنده‌ی جمع شدن

✅ Cite sources: mention or refer to sources of information, منابع را ذکر کردن

✅ For good measure: as an extra addition for completeness, برای محکم‌کاری / برای تکمیل مطلب

✅ Acknowledge the facts: accept or recognize the truth of something, حقایق را پذیرفتن

✅ Make one’s case (that...): present arguments or evidence to support your point, استدلال آوردن برای اینکه...

✅ Appropriate remedy: suitable solution, راه‌حل مناسب

✅ Damage caused by poverty: harm resulting from poverty, آسیب ناشی از فقر

✅ Evaluate on (certain) grounds: assess based on specific criteria, بر اساس معیارهایی ارزیابی کردن

✅ Those who are the least fortunate: the poorest or most disadvantaged people, کم‌برخوردارترین افراد جامعه

✅ World full of trade-offs: a world where every choice involves sacrifices, دنیایی پر از بده‌بستان‌ها و مصالحه‌ها

✅ Taxpayer money: public funds collected through taxes, پول مالیات‌دهندگان