[From Bruce Abbott (950614.1155 EST)]
If you have been tuning in on any of the television programs that review the
day's happenings in the O. J. Simpson trial you probably have seen and heard
Gerry Spence, the homespun, buckskin-jacketed Wyoming defense attorney who
has never lost a criminal case. Gerry has just published a book entitled
_How to Argue and Win Every Time_, and I figured, hey, this is just what I
need for those CSG-L debates--I'll just read Gerry's book, and I'll never
lose another argument! So yesterday I purchased the book and began to read
it. It's an amazing book. According to Gerry, all you need do to win an
argument is apply the fundamental insights of PCT.
I doubt that Gerry Spence has ever heard of PCT, but that's what it comes
down to. From year of experience, Gerry has developed an intuitive
understanding of human behavior that fits PCT like a pair of well-made
buckskin gloves. I don't think he'd mind if I offer a quote from his book
to support this claim:
Understanding how power works: Power is first an idea, first a
perception. _The power I face is always the power I perceive_. Let me
say it differently. Their power is my perception of their power. Their
power is _my_ thought. The source of their power is, therefore, in _my_
mind.
The power others possess is the power I give them. Their power is _my
gift_. I give them all the power in the universe, as, indeed, the
faithful give to God, or I give them no power at all, as, indeed, is
the quantum of power we too frequently allot to our children. If I have
endowed the _Other_ with power that the _Other_ does not possess, then
I face my own power, do I not? My own power has become my opponent, my
enemy. On the other hand, if the _Other_ possesses power, but I do not
perceive the _Other's_ power as effective against me, he has none ---
none for me.
(Spence, 1995, p. 33)
Now I've done it. You're going to go out and get your own copy of this
book, you're going to read it, and then _you'll_ win all the arguments. Me
and my big mouth. (;->
Regards,
Bruce