Don’t argue to win, argue to learn

Tim Harford’s book recommendations are always must reads. Here he summarizes from Alan Jacobs’s How To Think, on a checklist for thinkers;

Take five minutes before responding. Walk around the block.

Don’t argue to win, argue to learn.

Avoid people who fan flames.

Don’t feel you have to weigh in on every topic.

If your peers demand you weigh in, ponder your choice of peers.

Seek out thoughtful people who disagree with you. Listen.

Examine your own emotional responses.

Summarise your opponents’ arguments fairly and thoughtfully.

We recommend highly How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds

No, the journey-destination metaphor is one that we shouldn’t live by. Thinking does not have a destination, a stopping point, a “Well, we’re finally here.” To cease thinking, as Thomas Aquinas explained, is an act either of despair — “I can’t go any further” — or of presumption — “I need not go any further.”* What is needed for the life of thinking is hope: hope of knowing more, understanding more, being more than we currently are.