Persuasion Has Limits
Sep. 9th, 2023 03:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unspeakablehorrorI think it's a lot easier to have equanimity in this often chaotic world when you understand that there's no magic trick to persuasion. That you can be articulate or passionate or truthful or detailed or all of that and more, but you can't make other people believe you. A person has to be willing to consider your words in the first place before any of that matters.
If your words don't have the desired effect, it can be worthwhile to consider how you might improve them or if you should rethink them, but it doesn't necessarily mean you said anything wrong. It may simply mean you lost that argument before you even started it. Other people can decide they'll never seriously consider certain positions and there's nothing you can do about that. You can practice rhetorical strategies, polish your social skills, hone your logic, present more evidence, and those can all help you better promote your cause. But you can't make people believe you. Sometimes it's better to accept that they won't and move on.
If your words don't have the desired effect, it can be worthwhile to consider how you might improve them or if you should rethink them, but it doesn't necessarily mean you said anything wrong. It may simply mean you lost that argument before you even started it. Other people can decide they'll never seriously consider certain positions and there's nothing you can do about that. You can practice rhetorical strategies, polish your social skills, hone your logic, present more evidence, and those can all help you better promote your cause. But you can't make people believe you. Sometimes it's better to accept that they won't and move on.