Why I Argue
I had an interesting conversation in my office today. It began when my office mate told another co-worker (I’ll call him Don) that he “don’t believe shit ‘till I see it”. At that point, yet another co-worker (I’ll call him Eric) entered the conversation and said “you have to believe some things without seeing it”. At that point, I couldn’t resist jumping in and said “Of course you don’t. You should never believe anything without reason.” To this Eric said “Is the earth round or flat”? You can imagine where this went; he assumes that we accept that the world is a spheroid on faith rather than good reason. I explained that you can easily prove that the earth isn’t a flat surface by simple measurements and math and humans have known this for thousands of years now (i.e. it isn’t necessary to go into space and actually look at the planet). His reply was “where does math come from”? Presumably we accept math on faith. As I was trying to contain my exasperation, Don, who I’ve had arguments and discussions with previously, was trying to discourage Eric from continuing this particular argument. He said, in reference to me “He lives for this kind of argument, he just likes to argue”. I later talked to Don in his office and explained why this question makes no sense, because math, being an abstract concept, didn’t come from anywhere. It is a fundamental consequence of the universe. It isn’t faith that leads us to accept math as real. To deny math is to deny objective reality.
It is true that I enjoy a good argument, however, not just for the sake of arguing. In fact, when I’m arguing with someone and realize that the argument isn’t going anywhere and I can’t think of anything to get it back on track, I usually get disinterested and find a way to end it. The real reason I enjoy a good argument is because it gives me a chance to either learn something new or to correct some misinformation that another person believes or is spreading. Later, when I talked to Don about math as an abstract concept, that discussion is the reason I like to argue. Those earlier arguments lead to an opportunity to teach someone something awesome about reality. Whether I’m learning or teaching, that is why I enjoy a good argument.