Chapter 1 Response

Chapter one showed that everything in society today can be viewed as an argument. I had never thought of arguments in the way that this chapter suggests. It says that an argument isn't always intended to be "won" but could rather be an invitation for exploration. This idea of argument with yourself and your own thoughts rather than with others of differing perspectives was a bit confusing to me at first. I thought that an argument had to be held between two or more people, groups, etc. but this chapter showed me that it can be as simple as comparing different thoughts in your own mind.

I thought that the line drawn between persuasion and argument was too fine. I think that they are really one in the same, especially if everything is an argument. I also had a hard time thinking of everything as an argument because the word "argument" has a bit of a negative connotation. While decision making skills can be thought of as an argument, according to this chapter, I have a hard time labeling them as such. I suppose that I have more resistance to the word "argument" itself than I do toward actually viewing everything as argument.