How to be a Prick on an Email List - part 2 |
- Your antagonist is waging an assault upon your position — deflect each blow with the rhetorical device most likely to put him on the defense — it not important that you be correct, only that you win
- Never treat your antagonist as an intellectual equal — be condescending at all times
- Withhold information critical to the understanding of your position, then accuse your antagonist of shoddy thinking when he attempts to paraphrase your viewpoint
- Your antagonist has a weakness — find and exploit it
- Use the strength of your antagonist against him
- Never back down from an assertion you've made, it suggests you capable of error and misstatement — a modification is appropriate if it strengthens the impact and doesn't appear to be a retraction of the original remark
- Remain self-confident and keep your cool — it persuades others that you must be right
- Strive to get your antagonist angry — it makes him look weak against your self-assured manner
- Sarcasm is the best response to sarcasm — his use of it suggests he thinks it may hurt you, so it quite likely would hurt him — he has revealed a weakness — try to open a wound
- Never rely upon logical argument but rather a series of opaque pronouncements intermixed with other rhetorical devices — the right mixture is important — strive for perfection in this
- Don't be afraid to agree where it will cost you little — it gives the impression of goodwill and leads your antagonist to believe he is in true dialogue
- Be inconsistent in your application of these devices — it gives the impression of spontaneity and allows you to claim innocence of malicious intent
- Be wary of pointing out your antagonist's use of these devices— the exposure may backfire
- Above all, be relentless
© 1999 Dubnglas
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