It's not often possible to win an argument, but it's nice to know that you're correct if only for your own satisfaction. The best way to make a point is to state facts that can be proved. In this article I'll show examples of both useful and stupid arguing techniques. If you avoid the stupid stuff you're already way ahead. Again, arguing properly doesn't guarantee that you'll convince the other person! Most people can't admit when they're wrong, even to themselves, so they double down and continue to believe the same bullshit. Conspiracy theories are popular erroneous beliefs.

One example is the myth that Hillary Clinton ran a pedophile ring in the basement of a Brooklyn pizza restaurant. Equally popular is claiming that the US never actually went to the moon in 1969 and the whole thing was staged by Hollywood. In my field of audio and music, even when you prove to someone that all competent wires sound the same with measurements and blind listening tests, a hard core believer will insist that your hearing is defective. Or they'll claim that blind tests are invalid for various imagined reasons. Snopes and Wikipedia are good sources to validate or refute a claim or belief, and you should always verify before posting a new item or refuting someone else.

Always Tell The Truth

It's important to stay calm and focused, logical, and always factual and on point. If you get emotional then you're addressing feelings instead of facts. If you're not absolutely certain of something ask Google for proof. Just because someone claims that a source you quoted is biased doesn't mean the source is biased or wrong. As Stephen Colbert famously said, "Facts have a liberal bias." NPR and MS-NOW are frequent targets of conservative criticism even though their stories are based on video clips and verbatim quotes, with little or no opinion. Versus Fox News who paid $787 Million in 2023 to Dominion Voting Systems for defamation by lying about voter fraud. There's also the famous 50 Fox News Lies video showing many examples of Fox News hosts intentionally lying to their viewers. Using links like these helps make a point and know you're correct.

One good example of using facts against lies is when Donald Trump and other Republicans claimed that voter fraud cost Trump the 2024 election when he lost to Joe Biden. In 2026 Trump tried to pass the "Save America Act" forcing voters to present proof of citizenship in order to vote. But the proof required - passports and birth certificates - is difficult for most people to show as explained HERE. Not everyone has a passport or birth certificate, and many don't even have a driver's license. Such laws prevent legitimate citizens from voting at all. More to the point, after multiple investigations there is no evidence that voter fraud is an actual problem, as explained in THIS article at the Brennan Center for Justice. When someone claimed on Facebook that voter fraud is real, I posted a link to that article. It's reasonable to conclude that some politicians want to restrict voting to gain an unfair advantage. How un-American! I made that point as well.

Irrelevant Rebuttals

In March 2026 I posted a video on Facebook showing how the US Department of Defense spent $1 Billion in just the month of September, 2025 because they had more money than they needed and believed they had to spend it. Their purchases included a $100,000 piano for an airforce general, a $26,000 violin plus other musical instruments totaling $1.8 Million. They also spent $24 Million on lobster, crab, and steaks. A conservative Facebook friend replied that he read that those meals were sent to servicemen in sundry assignments. But that's not true, and was easily refuted by Google, which I posted:

There is no evidence in the reports that the lobster and crab legs were donated to servicemen. Instead, these items are typically purchased for military dining facilities and high-end catering, according to a nonprofit cited in the reports.

What-about-ism

Another mistake people make is changing the subject. One common tactic is called What-about-ism. In reply to my same post about the military wasting money, another conservative Facebook friend asked, "And Obama's $65,000 hot dog delivery?" In other words, forget my point that he couldn't answer, what about Obama? I replied, "From Google (which you should have done first yourself):"

The claim that Barack Obama spent $65,000 on a hot dog delivery is a false, unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that circulated in 2016-2017. This rumor was part of the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory, which originated on online forums such as 4chan and Reddit. It alleged that Obama spent $65,000 on "hot dogs" (a term conspiracy theorists claimed was a code word) for a party, frequently referencing an email from 2009. Fact-checking organizations, including Snopes, have found no evidence to support this claim. The narrative was part of a larger, debunked conspiracy theory that gained traction during the 2016 US presidential election cycle.

Then another conservative Facebook friend claimed "Biden and Fauci shut the country down. What did that cost?" because liberals forced people to wear masks. He added "California alone spent $24B on homelessness." If you find yourself changing the subject like this, and asking "what about" something unrelated, you probably are not right.

How To Spot A Lie

It's easy to tell if someone is lying, whether on purpose or just because they don't know any better. One way is if you already know for a fact that a claim isn't true. For example, you saw a video yesterday where a politician said something that today he denies saying. Another clue is if a claim seems unlikely on its face. For example, the claim that everyone who voted for Joe Biden is a communist. Of course you should always check every claim you intend to refute to be sure it really is false. But the world is full of intentional lies. Another example is that teenagers who say they're gay are simply confused. A good friend of mine told me she knew she was gay when she was five years old. The claim that "illegal" immigrants impose serious harm to the economy is also an obvious lie. Much contrary proof is available online, and this quote from Google gives a good summary:

Research on the economic impact of undocumented immigrants presents a complex picture, with economists generally agreeing that their presence is broadly positive for the overall U.S. economy, despite creating specific fiscal strains for state and local governments. Undocumented immigrants contribute significantly through tax payments, consumer spending, and labor in essential sectors, though they also impose costs on public services like education and emergency healthcare.

A common related lie is that undocumented immigrants are responsible for more crimes than US citizens. In fact, the exact opposite is true as detailed in THIS article from the CATO Institute.

Iintentional Lying

Obviously you are wrong if you intentionally lie to make a point. Lying is worse than simply being wrong. One good example is this lie I hear often from conservative media hosts: They claim that Democrats are racist because Democrats supported slavery in the 1800s and KKK members were Democrats. But everyone knows that the parties began to "flip" with Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s. This was further confirmed when the Democratic party adopted civil rights in the 1960s. Another lie is intentionally associating democratic socialism with totalitarian communism. The democratic socialism that senator Bernie Sanders favors is very different from what we see in North Korea and China. Yet another common intentional lie is that Adolph Hitler was an atheist. Again, this was easily refuted by Google:

Hitler was born to a Catholic mother and raised in the Roman Catholic Church, even being confirmed as a child. He often spoke of a "creator" or "lord," but this was likely a twisted, political version of religion designed to align with Nazi ideology. Hitler frequently criticized atheism and anti-religious, purely materialistic views during his political career.

Insults Never Help

As my friend Ed Dzubak says, "When you have to resort to insults, you've already lost the argument." In my same Facebook post about excessive military spending, yet another conservative friend wrote, "Gawd ... why do you exist????" He also posted that I'm a terrible bass player and I should practice more. Then he unfriended me.

Related, clicking the Facebook HaHa icon on an empty post with no factual rebuttal is stupid and pointless.

Logical Fallacies

There are many logical fallacies people fall prey to, such as Ad Hominem which is attacking the person making the argument rather than the argument itself. Another is Appeal to Authority: claiming that something is true solely because an "expert" says so rather than relying on evidence. Just because someone is an expert in one field doesn't mean they're an expert in other fields. And even in their own field experts can be wrong.

Logical fallacies are common errors in reasoning and flawed arguments that undermine the logic of a claim, often appearing as illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points. They are used to mislead or distract from the topic, ranging from personal attacks to false assumptions. Identifying these errors improves critical thinking and argumentative strength.

Asking for the impossible is another logical fallacy. Often when someone can't back up their claim they'll tell you to "go look it up," or they'll post a link to a 2-hour YouTube video and insist you watch the entire thing. If you find yourself doing that, your opinion is probably incorrect. When I asked a Facebook friend what evidence he would accept that Donald Trump is guilty of having sex with underage girls, he said DNA. As if such evidence could possibly be available 30+ years after the fact.

While magical thinking isn't technically a logical fallacy, I include it here because it's a common source of conspiracy theories. Examples include believing something without evidence, and various superstitions such as knocking on wood or crossing your fingers for good luck. Or believing that Bigfoot and UFOs are real. Even worse than believing without evidence is believing when strong evidence shows that you are wrong. For example, the common belief that vaccines cause autism. Numerous studies have concluded that vaccines are safe and effective. No legitimate studies have concluded otherwise. This fact is readily available with a simple web search.

Understanding logical fallacies helps you avoid making them yourself. Insulting someone when you can't refute what they say is obviously stupid. If you find yourself doing that, stop and consider the point the other person is making. They may not be correct either, but insulting them is certainly not correct.

It's No Disgrace To Admit You're Wrong

Finally, at some point when it's clear that you've lost the argument, you have to admit you were wrong. Or at least acknowledge that you have no valid rebuttal. It's the honorable thing to do and, believe it or not, people will respect you more for doing that rather than less.

Ethan Winer has been an audio engineer and professional musician for more than 50 years, and is a principle at RealTraps where he designs acoustic treatment products for recording studios, home theaters, and listening rooms. Ethan's Cello Rondo music video has received nearly 2 Million views on YouTube and other web sites. His two books, The Audio Expert and The Audio Circuits Cookbook, both published by Focal Press, are available at amazon.com and his own web site.

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