How to start

It doesn’t take much to spark an argument these days — a casual remark, a political observation, a dumb joke that hurts someone’s feelings. Loud voices and angry gestures may follow, leaving observers upset and frustrated. But arguments aren’t polarizing or hostile by nature, not when people are more interested in generating light than heat offers them. Arguments should make us smarter and better able to deal with problems in the world. In fact, you probably make such constructive arguments all the time without raising blood pressures, at least not too much.