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Arguing 101
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Stole this from here
http://home.tiac.net/~cri/1998/argue...
Milo, use this to redeem yourself... though you are wise to note its futility against my mastery.
How to argue effectively
By Stuart J. Williams, Attorney at Law
I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. You too can win arguments. Simply follow these rules:
Drink liquor.
Suppose you are at a party and some hotshot intellectual is expounding on the economy of Peru, a subject you know nothing about. If you're drinking some health-fanatic drink like grapefruit juice, you'll hang back, afraid to display your ignorance, while the hotshot enthralls your date. But if you drink several large martinis, you'll discover you have STRONG VIEWS about the Peruvian economy. You'll be a WEALTH of information. You'll argue forcefully, offering searing insights and possibly upsetting furniture. People will be impressed. Some may leave the room.
Make things up.
Suppose, in the Peruvian economy argument, you are trying to prove that Peruvians are underpaid, a position you base solely on the fact that YOU are underpaid, and you'll be damned if you're going to let a bunch of Peruvians be better off. DON'T say: "I think Peruvians are underpaid." Say instead: "The average Peruvian's salary in 1981 dollars adjusted for the revised tax base is $1,452.81 per annum, which is $836.07 before the mean gross poverty level."
NOTE: Always make up exact figures.
If an opponent asks you where you got your information, make THAT up too. Say: "This information comes from Dr. Hovel T. Moon's study for the Buford Commission published on May 9, 1982. Didn't you read it?" Say this in the same tone of voice you would use to say, "You left your soiled underwear in my bathroom."
Use meaningless but weighty-sounding words and phrases.
Memorize this list:
Let me put it this way
In terms of
Vis-a-vis
Per se
As it were
Qua
Ipso facto
Ergo
So to speak
You should also memorize some Latin abbreviations such as "Q.E.D.", "e.g.", and "i.e." These are all short for "I speak Latin, and you don't." Here's how to use these words and phrases. Suppose you want to say, "Peruvians would like to order appetizers more often, but they don't have enough money."
You never win arguments talking like that. But you WILL win if you say, "Let me put it this way. In terms of appetizers vis-a-vis Peruvians qua Peruvians, they would like to order them more often, so to speak, but they do not have enough money per se, as it were. Ergo, ipso facto, case closed. Q.E.D."
Only a fool would challenge that statement.
Use snappy and irrelevant comebacks.
You need an arsenal of all-purpose irrelevant phrases to fire back at your opponents when they make valid points. The best are:
You're begging the question.
You're being defensive.
Don't compare apples to oranges.
What are your parameters?
This last one is especially valuable. Nobody (other than engineers and policy wonks) has the vaguest idea what "parameters" means.
Don't forget the classic: YOU'RE SO LINEAR.
Here's how to use your comebacks:
You say: As Abraham Lincoln said in 1873...
Your opponent says: Lincoln died in 1865.
You say: You're begging the question.
You say: Liberians, like most Asians...
Your opponent says: Liberia is in Africa.
You say: You're being defensive.
You say: Since the discovery of the incandescent light bulb...
Your opponent says: The light bulb is an invention.
You say: Well DUH!
Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler.
This is your heavy artillery, for when your opponent is obviously right and you are spectacularly wrong. Bring Hitler up subtly. Say
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499 days ago
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Blog Update
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Creating Skins.
1. Save the 7 graphics needed for a skin from any bebo page. Yep, right click on the image and it's either "Save picture as" or "Save background as" in IE.
2. Open photoshop and open those images in it.
3. Paint over the images or paste new images into them to create a new skin.
4. Save the new image and remove all the numbers so the it reads main_bg.jpg for example.
5. Upload your new images into your new skin space.
6. Play around with the styles to get the right colors.
 goof luck
And now back to the theme!
I like asking questions but I like answering questions more, so i went to this Christian website below which asks these 11 questions to atheists. I thought I'd give an answer or two.
from: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-ai...
1. "If all of life is meaningless, and ultimately absurd, why bother to march straight forward, why stand in the queue as though life as a whole makes sense?" 'Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There
-To an atheist, life is not meaningless, it is the opposite. I live with the knowledge that this is the only life I will have and will strive to extract happiness and meaning from it before I die. The believer on the other hand contends that there is a better life waiting for them after death, thus rendering this life meaningless in the absurdity that it's a preparation for it.
2. If everyone completely passes out of existence when they die, what ultimate meaning has life? Even if a man's life is important because of his influence on others or by his effect on the course of history, of what ultimate significance is that if there is no immortality and all other lives, events, and even history itself is ultimately meaningless?
-Meaningless again? I do not regale myself with fairy-tales of an existence beyond death; this does not imply that what I do in life is meaningless. The ultimate meaning in life is to live, experience consciousness to start off with and then onto love and happiness, the positive and negative emotions felt helping to shape character. This, while inglorious compared to the false promises of immortality is what gives hope and meaning to living a desirable life so that when death comes knocking unannounced I would be thankful that I have experienced life.
3. Suppose the universe had never existed. Apart form God, what ultimate difference would that make?
-The difference is you wouldn't be asking and me answering your questions if the universe never existed.
4. In a universe without God or immortality, how is mankind ultimately different from a swarm of mosquitoes or a barnyard of pigs?
-We have cognition and self-awareness. God in the bible doesn't acknowledge people in India, China and Samoa but they exhibited moral constructs more advanced than some of those in the bible when they, as a people were 'discovered'.
5. What viable basis exists for justice or law if man is nothing but a sophisticated, programmed machine?
-The principle of not causing unnecessary suffering. What could be a more viable basis than that?
6. Why does research, discovery, diplomacy, art, music, sacrifice, compassion, feelings of love, or affectionate and caring relationships mean anything if it all ultimately comes to naught anyway?
-Naught? I can't believe this question is asked again.
7. Without absolute morals, what ultimate difference is there between Saddam Hussein and Billy Graham?
-Saddam Hussein ended many lives unnecessarily while Billy Graham ended and suppressed much intellect. Seriously, if 'do not kill' is an absolute moral then Saddam is guilty of all charges but if Saddam is a pastor of a Christian church and he saw a suicide bomber running into his packed church, his moral conviction to prevent the blast by any means possible is to be commended, if that was too subtle; he kills the bastard before he sets the bomb off. He killed him and broke that ab
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508 days ago
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must write to blog!
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somethings from those tv commercials.
- ASB bank's Goldstein guy's boss is a prick.
- Dennis from accounts needs some love too.
and my personality defect from this site.
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?te...
ps: if you do take it, know in advance that it might hurt your feelings.. if youre not a robot. haha
this is what it said about me:
Robot
You are the Robot! You are characterized by your rationality. In fact, this is really ALL you are characterized by. Like a cold, heartless machine, you are so logical and unemotional that you scarcely seem human. For instance, you are very humble and don't bother thinking of your own interests, you are very gentle and lack emotion, and you are also very introverted and introspective. You may have noticed that these traits are just as applicable to your laptop as they are to a human being. You are not like the robots they show in the movies. Movie robots are make-believe, because they always get all personable and likeable after being struck by lightning, or they are cold, cruel killing machines. In all reality, though, you are much more boring than all that. Real robots just sit there, doing their stupid jobs, and doing little else. If you get struck by lightning, you won't develop a winning personality and heart of gold. (Robots don't have hearts, silly, and if they did, they would probably be made of steel, not gold.) You also won't be likely to terrorize humanity by becoming an ultra-violent killing machine sent into the past to kill the mother of a child who will lead a rebellion against machines, because that movie was dumb as hell, and because real robots don't kill--they horribly maim at best, and they don't even do that on purpose. Real robots are boringly kind and all too rarely try to kill people. In all my years, my laptop has only attacked me once, and that was only because my brother threw it at me. In short, your personality defect is that you don't really HAVE a personality. You are one of those annoying, super-logical people that never gets upset or flustered. Unless, of course, you short circuit. Or if someone throws a pie at you. Pies sure are delicious.
To put it less negatively:
1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.
2. You are more INTROVERTED than extroverted.
3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.
4. You are more HUMBLE than arrogant.
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4 Comments
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524 days ago
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I think the last time I saw you was back at the ASOSI sootaga that was held in Welly? 2000? Shucks donkey years man! How are you? Saw you on Patrick's page 
. ua ka lelava a aoga. i wanna be just like u!
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