Disputation can be an exhausting and often demoralizing, whatever your avocation.

1. Find Your Resolve

Be aware when someone is trying to suck you into his or her distorted perception of the world. Rush Limbaugh has three hours to lecture you, unchallenged, from his soundproof room. Michael Moore holds you hostage in a darkened movie theater for two hours at a time.

Be aware when you subject yourself to these pundits. Take a moment to mentally prepare yourself before hand. Remind yourself to be critical. You are an individual, with thoughts and opinions of your own. That person dictating their position to you is no authority. There are no authorities; at best there are experts in their field.

Remember that these people are no smarter than you. If you hold a college degree, you are already on equal footing or above them. If you don’t even have a High School diploma, you can still be more educated about the issues than they are. You have to stop talking to listen and learn.

2. Remain Dispassionate

“If you aren’t outraged, you aren’t paying attention.” a bumper sticker exclaims. I would argue the opposite: If you are outraged, it’s because you don’t understand the system. Outrage is merely the weak-mind’s defense against having to learn.

Remember that reasonable people can disagree without one side being immoral or buffoonish. The system is vast and complex. Recognize what you can do to affect it, accept what you can’t do, and move on.

3. Persuade the Opposition

Always remember that political debate is about persuasion. You are trying to convince others to see the validity of your views. You may not be able to bring someone over to your side completely, but you may get them to concede points, bringing them a better understanding of your view and bringing everyone closer to an ideal mean.

4. Challenge yourself

Have faith in your belief system because of its malleability. If you are wrong, you have the ability to revise and rearticulate. If the demagogue is wrong, all they have is denial.

Many people who have faith in an idea are offended by ideas that conflict with their beliefs, such as ideological zealots who becomes angry when someone proposes a conflicting idea. This emotional reaction is not an exhibition of their faith, but a symptom of their insecurity in their position.

When someone gets outraged at you, calls you names, or tells you to “f**k off!” take solace in the fact that may not have persuaded that individual, but you did decisively win the argument.

5. Responsibility to the Truth

No one is perfect and no one has a mandate on the truth. Democracy is merely a process we use to approach a consensus. The system works best when all voices are heard and issues are explored in excruciating detail.

Above all, be respectful.