Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange
Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [arguments]

For use on questions where multiple people are exchanging opposing views in a heated or angry way.

An argument is when two or more people are trying to present their opposing views in a heated or angry way.

This tag should be used to indicate that the question involves two or more people getting heated or angry while presenting opposing views.

Do not use this tag to ask for help winning an argument or phrasing your side of an argument as such questions are off-topic on IPS.

59 questions
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15 answers

How can I handle my father challenging everything I say?

I live with my parents. My father likes to challenge nearly everything I say, up to the point of ridiculousness. I can prove many of the things he challenges but not immediately. In most cases his disagreements with my comments are off-topic. They…
Belle
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17 answers

Dealing with people who always try to prove you wrong in a conversation

Consider the following scenario: You have an acquaintance, who would probably be really good at turncoat (the game in which one person has to rapidly switch sides again and again on a topic). Whenever you bring up any topic for conversation, their…
Myungjin Hyun
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41
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17 answers

How can I tell my boyfriend "I told you so" without sounding too full of myself?

What I'm about to describe is in relation to this How can I tell a friend they need to help with what they promised because what they promised can't wait? My boyfriend and I decided to help out an overwhelmed friend Lily who has already adopted…
Tycho's Nose
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41
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7 answers

How can I explain a problem without finger-pointing?

I try to avoid all kinds of "everyday life" arguings, but sometimes I just want an explanation for minor problems. "Why are you late?" and "You know where we keep documents. Why put it in a different locker?" should have responses like "Sorry, I got…
nyagolova
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34
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11 answers

Is a verbal response that directly expresses anger always the wrong choice?

Me: I understand, I'm just saying that I had plans but cancelled them because you said you were gonna show. Him: Well if I knew you were going to be such a baby about it, I would have told you I wasn't going to make it. Me: Well @#$% you then. I…
8protons
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33
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7 answers

How can I make my parents (and parents-in-law) accept that I don't want to have children?

First I would like to give a bit of context: My companion and I are 25 years old; we will probably get married in a few years I luckily have a comfortable situation, and have been working for 2 years My companion still has to study for 4 years (but…
aperture
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32
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7 answers

Friend is very nitpicky about side comments I don't intend to be taken too seriously

I have a close friend who seems to hyper-analyze some things I say and gets upset with things he thinks I didn't give much thought to. One example is: we were hanging out and talking about card games that involve bluffing, like poker. I said I…
user24255
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4 answers

How to express the statement "Let's agree to disagree" in a polite and more effective way?

In real life or even on the Internet, there are many occurrences when you can't agree with the person standing next to you and want to move on from the conversation without agreeing or surrendering. I used to say this: "Let's agree to…
Gauche
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20
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6 answers

How to defuse meaningless arguments?

This is about my mothers husband (let's call him Bob for now). I visit them from time to time, and they are mostly pleasant to be around. However, Bob has the tendency to blurt out completely false statements. And when I try to explain that to him,…
gorgabal
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20
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4 answers

How can I make an argument that my time is valuable?

I'm a software engineer, but before that, I attempted to run my own mobile computer repair business. That business never got off the ground, so I went into a career in software development. Fairly frequently, I have people still contact me for…
Jim
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6 answers

How to let other coworkers know that I don't share my coworker's political views?

Background Today, I was in my workplace kitchen where I was having lunch. There were other coworkers having lunch there too. One of them (let's call him Bob) was talking about political stuff and displaying his (extreme) political views that I…
Ael
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13
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2 answers

How to communicate better with my wife when she is in a bad mood and is slightly mean to me?

Long story short, I have depression/anxiety. Some days I’m in a low mood and am extra sensitive. My wife, like all of us, gets in her own moods, usually slightly aggravated, or snippy, or a little mean. When these two personality moments collide, I…
Tim Jones
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13
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6 answers

How to interact with people who are indifferent to information security?

Background: I’m an amateur programmer, make both desktop and mobile applications with a moderately deep background in computer science (from my experience and undergraduate studies). A lot of friends of mine don’t pay attention to (or even worse,…
tonychow0929
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12
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4 answers

How do you stress that safety is non-negotiable at work?

I've been struggling with a recurring problem with my immediate supervisor at work for the last year or so. He tends to take a very lax attitude when it comes to safety policies, procedures, and maintaining safety equipment. This attitude has…
apaul
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12
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6 answers

How to tell a stranger that the way I wish to educate my child is none of his/her business?

Consider the following scenario: I'm taking my kid (5 years old) to a coffeeshop and we do some 'math problems'. By math problems I mean that I explain him about the numbers, addition, counting and so forth. When I ask him to draw a number sometimes…
ProcolHarum
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