The Sure Thing

“I’d launch into a long assessment of it. I’d be certain—absolutely positive—that I was right. My father would listen, head cocked a little to the side, often smiling a bit, sometimes raising his eyebrows after an especially bold point. For some reason, I would feel encouraged—not wary—and I’d bash ahead into bolder assessments. Eventually, I’d run out of steam and finish up, with some sort of gesture meaning ‘case closed.’ There would be a moment of silence. And then my father would say—gently, because there was zero need to say it any other way: ‘And what is the best argument of the other side?'” Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Colleges Are Lying to Their Students. They aren’t teaching them “how to think.” (When I used to lecture my dad about a topic and I was absolutely certain I was right, there’d be a moment of silence. And then it just stayed silent. And he went back to reading the paper.)