The Root Cause of Arguments

As everybody knows, we could rid the world of arguments if we could get the interlocutors to simply clarify their terms. Almost all arguments are caused by careless use of terms. A little effort at naming our terms can help us avoid all confusion which lead to arguments:



Only a fool would claim that ideologies and prejudice lead to arguments. As Abbott and Costello clearly demonstrate, argument has nothing to do with preconceived opinions or a misguided framework for our thinking. Nope. Arguments come down to a confusion about our terms. The above video demonstrates how an argument is initiated by two protagonists who simply refuse to clarify their use of terms. Abbott works hard to define terms but Costello refuses to listen. Instead Costello takes his half understood concepts and runs with them creating needless confusion.

OK... I'm joking. That comedy routine has nothing to do with real debate and argument. A confusion of terms is almost never the root cause of heated debate. Instead, it is a clash of ideologies, a clash over frameworks that define our stance toward the world.

If I'm a pessimist, I see evidence of decay and ruin everywhere. If you are an optimist you see promising starts and great beginnings everywhere. We will battle because my evidence only confirms your beliefs and show you how confused I am. Similiarly my evidence will be welcomed by you as confirmatory to your viewpoint and reinforce your viewpoint that I'm a fool who has no clear idea of how the world really works. We argue because we are talking past one another.

Most people stumble about arguing a while then realize that they can't come to a resolution because their ideologies differ, their assumptions and theories are simply too different to find a common ground. Only a fanatic will fail to see this problem and disengage. A fanatic refuses to accept the possibility of a differing viewpoint. A fanatic will insist that you must accept his argument. Normal people can disengage and respect their opponent's differing ideology. A fanatic simply can't.

The world is a richer place when there are differing viewpoints. Diverging viewpoints is like artists with different styles or different palettes. Our world would be a dull place indeed if we all saw everything from the same perpective and with the same spectacles.