Definition of Life and Memories.

As I’m always involved in debates, I’ve spent a huge portion of my holiday to ascertain the methods I’ve collected to succeed in “mind games” (e.g. debate, battle, argument) and it has been fruitful. I’ll divulge some of the methods I found useful. Since there are a heap to tell, I’ll categorize them by chapters.

Chapter one – Defence is the best offence

Usually in a spontaneous debate on general occasions, we used to just spill out every points in order to win. Many have the mindset that the more points you have, the more chances you are having the upper hand, but it may not be true (as far as I’ve known).

For instance, one has given 10 points why earth is a good place to stay, provided that he gave 9 valid points, and one precarious point, vulnerable to be trounced, he’s gone. When the other party question the validity of the dubious point, the spotlight will then be shed on that point, if the person who brought out the point fails to defend his stand, then his previous 9 formidable points will be vanished. Even in a debate where victory is on the person who procure the most points, one’s chances of victory may be in stake if his spear is turned towards himself.

By using other’s points to build your stand, you could be invulnerable. Usually what we hear in a lecture or a “wise man say”, we will ponder it thoroughly after hearing it, like regurgitating what have been told and finally attest it’s validity based on one’s discretion. If your points are made up by your own brainstorm, without proper “filtering”, you are probably to utter things that are questionable which are disadvantageous to you. Hence if you use other’s offence as yours too, the points in doubt will be referred to the other, not you.

To further beleaguer the opponent, play complete defence. Do not expose yourself to the slightest risk by promoting your points, keep create doubt on your opponent’s points. Creating doubt is ultimately easy by being a “third party” or the listener. As a listener, they are keen to know more about what you said, even it’s something plain and obvious. For example if the topic is about whether a random country is polluted (e.g. air, noise). If you say the particular country is polluted due to excessive amount of cars, listeners actually appreciate if you could provide more about it, like what is the total carbon emission. When you started to create doubts or uncertainty in opponent’s view, listeners will usually create more doubts to themselves.

This can be used on any occasion and not necessarily confined to debates. Another good example is a fight. When you are the one who receive the first punch, you can always bring out “self defence” as your defence.