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Want to win an argument? Say less
A persuasion expert says the strongest move may be letting someone connect the dots.
Greg Sullivan
September 23, 2026 • Est. Reading Time: 3 minutes
“Why do people always assume that volume will succeed when logic won’t?”
― L.J. Smith
Maybe the secret to getting your point across is saying less. Mark Wales explores why people can be more persuaded by conclusions they reach themselves, and Erik Barnes has some extremely useful language for the next time your boss presents an idea you would prefer not to call “terrible.”
Ideas
A persuasion expert says the strongest ideas may be the ones you never actually say.
Ah, the magic moment in an argument when you say just the right thing. The person across from you pauses, and you can see understanding dawn in their eyes, and then they say it. “Wow, you were right!” Except… that never happens, does it? On the contrary, the harder you push, the wittier you are, the more facts you bring to the table, the more likely they are to dig in their heels.
Behavioral expert Chase Hughes has a much stranger approach. It involves feeding someone bits of information like you’re casually scattering LEGO bricks across a table, then resisting the urge to snap them together yourself. As Mark Wales reports, what happens next is where the psychology gets fascinating.
Research suggests there’s real power in letting people arrive somewhere on their own, which might explain why curiosity can work better than contradiction and why even a few carefully chosen “magic words” can change how a request lands. Hughes’ LEGO analogy makes the whole thing almost suspiciously easy to understand.
GOOD reader Jeannine Fortier shared this image of the very appropriately named Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley, Idaho. I’m a sucker for a wide open space, and this feels like such a lot of world for just one picture.
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Send us your best images, and we may feature them as the image of the day. Be sure to tell us a bit about your pic.
Your boss pitches a bad idea. What’s your move?Choose your workplace survival strategy. |
Yesterday's Results
In yesterday's issue, we shared a family debate over holiday travel expectations.
And we asked: What’s the fairest rule for holiday travel? 60% of you chose every family decides for itself. Somewhere, a group chat is still negotiating Thanksgiving.
Rotate who travels each year (16%)
Families with young kids stay put (15%)
Whoever has the most space hosts (9%)
Every family decides for itself (60%)
GOOD reader Marcelle Joy made the case for the majority. “Situations for any or all the family change. It could change for each holiday every year. Go with the needs of the family at the time”
Home Life | Courtesy of Upworthy
 | ||
Mom gives a tour of her typical ‘middle-class home’ and it’s exactly what people needed | ||
A house tour we can all relate to. | ||
By Heather Wake | ||
Sure, it’s lovely to see pristine, perfectly curated homes that look like they belong in Architectural Digest. A little inspo never hurt anyone. But as we all know, the spotless life is simply not an achievable reality, especially for those with busy lives and limited budgets (read: most of us). | ||
But you know what? Maybe even the messy homes deserve some love. The ones with constant junk piles, unfinished projects, dirty dishes, and misplaced toys. The homes that will never grace the cover of a magazine but still do a wonderful job of containing all the moments life has to offer: the big, small, extraordinary, mundane, and everywhere in between. ‘Cause at the end of the day, isn’t that a home’s true purpose anyway? | ||
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Work
We’ve got six phrases that let you disagree with your boss and keep your job.
"Well, sir, that's a stupid idea." We can't say it, but sometimes you need to find a way to get the message across before the stupid idea becomes your stupid project. Between the power dynamic, the egos on the line, and the general awkwardness of correcting the person who signs your timesheet, most of us just nod and brace for impact.
Erik Barnes explains there's a diplomatic workaround, and it never requires the words "no," "you're wrong," or "have you considered a different career." He rounded up six phrases from a tech career coach and an HR director, and each one is basically a cheat code for managing up. One of them, according to coach Dr. Kyle Elliott, gets your manager to "talk themselves into the problem before you have to point it out, which is a major win."
A few of these even double as workload protection, quietly ensuring that whatever happens to the bad idea, it doesn't happen to your calendar. If you've ever rehearsed a tough conversation in the shower and still chickened out, this one's for you.
On September 23, 1846, astronomers Johann Galle and Heinrich d’Arrest pointed a telescope toward a patch of sky where mathematics suggested an unseen planet should be, and found Neptune remarkably close by. The prediction came from irregularities in Uranus’s orbit, making Neptune’s discovery one of the great examples of math revealing something real before anyone had actually seen it.
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💬 From the group text…
Some people are said to pull out all the stops, but… metaphorically, right? This lady, she does it literally and shows us what goes into putting all the stops back once you’ve done it. (Maybe turn your volume down before enjoying this video!)
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Until tomorrow, don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops. Just… warn people first.