How Do I Seek Out the Best Counter-Arguments?

00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)

00:00:02.580 | - All right, who do we got next, Jesse?

00:00:07.720 | - Next up we have Anthony.

00:00:09.040 | He has a question.

00:00:10.360 | You've been getting a lot of these questions lately

00:00:11.880 | about seeking counter arguments.

00:00:13.880 | - Hi Cal, Anthony here.

00:00:19.280 | Thank you for your books, your articles, and this podcast.

00:00:23.480 | They truly inspire me to keep living the deep life.

00:00:27.120 | Keep up the great work.

00:00:29.540 | My question is about your advice

00:00:32.080 | to seek out the best counter arguments

00:00:34.800 | when developing a philosophy or stance on an issue.

00:00:39.040 | I think the advice makes sense.

00:00:41.920 | I was just wondering if you could provide some tips

00:00:45.160 | on how to actually go about finding

00:00:47.920 | the best counter arguments and engaging with them.

00:00:51.360 | What does this process look like?

00:00:53.700 | How do you go about doing it?

00:00:56.380 | Any details you could share would be helpful.

00:00:59.240 | Thank you.

00:01:00.080 | - Well, Anthony, this question has come up

00:01:03.560 | a couple of times recently.

00:01:04.800 | And the answer I gave last week

00:01:08.480 | in responding to a similar question

00:01:11.040 | was find someone that you know or trust or respect

00:01:16.040 | that is on the other side of a topic

00:01:19.180 | and then ask them what are the great sources here?

00:01:23.020 | Like what's the writing that inspires you?

00:01:25.340 | What's the writing that's the foundation

00:01:26.840 | of whatever it is you care about, right?

00:01:29.040 | So like let's say your natural instinct

00:01:33.120 | is towards a sort of big government political theory.

00:01:37.160 | You're like, I should probably understand

00:01:38.440 | what these libertarians are about.

00:01:40.200 | So I kind of understand the opposite side of it.

00:01:41.960 | Find, you know, everyone has the libertarian friend.

00:01:44.160 | They kind of advertise.

00:01:45.440 | And be like, what's the thing you're reading, man?

00:01:46.880 | What got you into this?

00:01:47.760 | Like, who do you think the big books are here,

00:01:50.780 | the ones that made you into this?

00:01:51.960 | And then they tell you, like, great, okay.

00:01:53.360 | So these were the books they read

00:01:54.560 | that were quite inspiring to them.

00:01:55.560 | And then you know what to go read.

00:01:57.200 | So that's what I'd recommend.

00:01:58.040 | Find someone that seems reasonable

00:02:00.160 | on that side of the argument

00:02:01.400 | and ask them not for their arguments,

00:02:03.820 | not for their particular reasons,

00:02:06.760 | but what they read that was most inspiring.

00:02:08.600 | It's usually not that hard to find.

00:02:10.160 | Almost every stance and almost every position

00:02:12.920 | on almost every topic has some foundational text.

00:02:15.240 | So it's all about going and finding foundational text.

00:02:18.040 | Here's the added benefit of doing that

00:02:19.840 | that I wasn't able to mention last time.

00:02:21.940 | Put aside the particular content that you are exploring

00:02:26.140 | when you do this exercise.

00:02:28.320 | You are being exposed when you do this on a regular basis

00:02:31.000 | to foundational text.

00:02:32.560 | Foundational texts in abstract are incredibly interesting

00:02:37.320 | and useful to encounter.

00:02:39.360 | 'Cause what makes a text foundational?

00:02:41.440 | It means someone was able to come in on some topic

00:02:44.080 | and deliver such a well-organized

00:02:47.200 | and persuasive structuring of the world

00:02:50.280 | that many people changed the way they lived their lives

00:02:53.640 | because of it.

00:02:54.680 | Those are cool books.

00:02:56.360 | I think Tyler Cowen calls these quake books.

00:02:58.820 | They cause an earthquake

00:03:00.000 | in your personal intellectual life.

00:03:02.580 | Just being exposed to that type of writing,

00:03:04.920 | I think is exciting.

00:03:06.180 | And it also really sharpens your own rhetorical skills

00:03:09.440 | because you're being exposed to the very highest level

00:03:12.520 | of people trying to be persuasive

00:03:13.840 | about understanding the world.

00:03:14.760 | So even if you don't care about what they're saying,

00:03:18.140 | even if after you read what they're saying,

00:03:19.660 | it doesn't change your mind

00:03:20.760 | because you read a quake book on the other side.

00:03:22.360 | And when they combined,

00:03:23.200 | you realize like that side's probably right.

00:03:25.160 | You're still picking up the raw craft tools.

00:03:28.020 | And it's a really interesting, fun reading experience.

00:03:30.600 | And it infuses in you the power of nonfiction done right.

00:03:34.240 | So that is the hidden benefit I wanted to point out here

00:03:37.080 | is that not only do you enrich

00:03:39.800 | in your own understanding of a topic

00:03:42.880 | by reading the best stuff on the other side,

00:03:44.920 | not only does that give you more authenticity,

00:03:46.440 | not only does that give you more deeper roots

00:03:48.060 | of understanding,

00:03:48.900 | not only does that give you the confidence

00:03:49.880 | to take actual action,

00:03:52.080 | it also exposes you to a really cool genre of writing,

00:03:55.360 | those type of books that can change the way

00:03:57.600 | that people live.

00:03:58.800 | And I gotta say, I just have to,

00:04:00.960 | I continue to double down on this idea

00:04:02.840 | that it is not wrong to expose yourself

00:04:06.080 | to people that you worry or disagree with.

00:04:08.180 | Be very, very wary of anyone who says,

00:04:12.240 | "I don't want you being exposed to that

00:04:14.520 | "because you might be tricked."

00:04:16.320 | I won't be.

00:04:17.480 | I'm smart, I'm sophisticated,

00:04:18.840 | but you might be tricked into believing the wrong thing.

00:04:21.320 | So I don't want you to listen to that.

00:04:22.880 | And in fact, we should probably make that thing go away

00:04:25.320 | because people might hear that and be tricked.

00:04:27.160 | We need to be very careful about what you hear.

00:04:29.600 | That is always the character you don't wanna be

00:04:32.420 | in the Orwell novel.

00:04:33.480 | That's always the character in the Huxley book

00:04:35.720 | that you're saying like, "Ooh, that's not the guy I like."

00:04:37.680 | All right, so just be very wary of that.

00:04:39.800 | I can think of no better way to build convictions

00:04:42.460 | than to expose those convictions

00:04:44.080 | to good arguments that disagree.

00:04:46.840 | It's going to nuance and sophisticate your understanding.

00:04:49.840 | And as I talked about last week,

00:04:51.120 | it means you're gonna take more action,

00:04:54.240 | more action in the service of things you care about

00:04:56.480 | if you're exposed to the countervailing arguments

00:04:58.880 | because you get more confidence in your stance.

00:05:01.880 | You get more nuance.

00:05:03.240 | You're not just online firing emojis at people.

00:05:06.700 | You actually say, "I get this and feel strong about this.

00:05:09.120 | "And I have a sophisticated,

00:05:10.360 | "dielectrically formed vision on this.

00:05:12.640 | "So why don't we actually get out there

00:05:13.740 | "and make some change?"

00:05:14.580 | So a lot of great things come out of that strategy, Anthony.

00:05:17.420 | So seek out those books, read those books,

00:05:20.200 | and you will be well off.

00:05:23.120 | (upbeat music)

00:05:25.700 | [MUSIC]

How Do I Seek Out the Best Counter-Arguments?

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