I’ve found the best way to continue a discussion (if one wished to do so under the stated conditions...) when encountering a conversation halter is to put on a quizzical expression and utter a simple, confused-sounding question like, “How so?” or “Really?”
Asking questions, especially when you act confused (and many of these tactics are confusing on purpose, and thus it’s not a false front), seems to put people in a better mood to counter with more substantive debate. Maybe it puts them into teaching mode, automatically granting them status without conceding the argument itself, or it shows that you genuinely would like to discuss the topic but aren’t being combative about it, I’m not sure. It just works well for me.
I’ve found the best way to continue a discussion (if one wished to do so under the stated conditions...) when encountering a conversation halter is to put on a quizzical expression and utter a simple, confused-sounding question like, “How so?” or “Really?”
Asking questions, especially when you act confused (and many of these tactics are confusing on purpose, and thus it’s not a false front), seems to put people in a better mood to counter with more substantive debate. Maybe it puts them into teaching mode, automatically granting them status without conceding the argument itself, or it shows that you genuinely would like to discuss the topic but aren’t being combative about it, I’m not sure. It just works well for me.