Rules Of Engagement

 To pull off successful attacks in debates, you have to execute with nuance and subtlety. It has to be artful. ~ Mark McKinnon 

When you battle with words against people, there are rules and etiquette to follow. It's a bit like war. There are rules to war, and when people follow it, you make the best of the of a bad situation.

When having an argument, debate, whatever, it's always important to remember that you are not fighting the person, you are not attacking them. Rather what you are doing is discussing with them why you disagree. This has nothing to do with them, except their beliefs and values that you do not agree with. That person wants to go left and you want to go right. Whether or not if his/her decision is correct, you should treat them with respect.

Which brings one to the next point. Name calling does not help in an argument. Rather it destroys all civil conduct most of the time. The proper term is ad hominem, where you strike at someone's character instead of the topic.

Choosing to strike at others while tempting, does not solve the issue at hand and is poor styling of reasoning. Furthermore, it's not a very good habit to have, as it does not make you persuasive, it only makes you as a school yard bully with low intellect. In addition, if you have to persuade someone who is your friend, to convince them, insulting them won't convince them and you may just lose a friend.

Next up, would be the Straw man. This is to exaggerate someone else's argument or distort in some form or manner. For example, John might say to his son,” eat your greens it'll make you healthy”, and in return his son says,” so you want me to choke and die from eating them?” John's son is distorting John's argument, and thus is a straw man. Although, this style of arguing can be useful and helpful to simplify an argument, one should have care, especially less truth is loss in fiction.

The red herring, this is probably as common as the ad hominem. It's point is to change the topic to go to a stronger ground. For instance, Tom is losing the debate so he shouts to Bill, “Look there is fire truck behind you.” As Houdini was a master of escaping, so many people use this form of escape. With this tactic, they do so to find a stronger topic, or a way of retreat. Despite letting people retreat is something you should do always gracefully. Sometimes however, a route is necessary when dealing with those that will only keep coming back.

Although, these were just a few pitfalls in the art of debate, hopefully it will help you to be alert when others try these tactics on you, or maybe to yourself less you use low tactics. However, what is most important to remember is that when you debate with people, your trying to find what is right and not who is right. Furthermore, always remember to have a cool head, as in the heat of the moment, hasty words may be said, and later regretted in leisure.