One of the best ways to avoid making bad arguments is to spend time studying counter-arguments. And the best way to do this is to read—and understand—our critics.
Any argument made often enough will give rise to counter-arguments. Sometimes the initial argument can withstand them, and sometimes it can't. Likewise, sometimes those counter-arguments will be strong and sometimes they won't.
But regardless of whether we believe our own positions are inviolable, it behooves us to know and understand the arguments of those who disagree. We should do this for two reasons. First, our inviolable position may be anything but. What we assume is true could be false. The only way we'll discover this is to face up to evidence and arguments against our position. Because, as much as we may not enjoy it, discovering we've believed a falsehood means we're now closer to believing the truth than we were before. And that's something we should only ever feel gratitude for.
---SPSmith
