THROUGH ARGUMENT

LA‘W

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70 LAW51

’['RAl\'S(.')RF.SSlON OF THE LAW

In 131 1313., the Roman consul Publius Crassus Dives

Mucianus, laying siege

^{totheGreektownof}

Pergamus,

^{foundhimselfinneed ofa}

battering

ramtoforce

through

^{thetown’swalls.He hadseen a}

couple

^of

hefty ship’s

masts in a

shipyard

^{inAthens a few}

days ^before,

and he orderedthat the

larger

^{ofthese besent tohim}

immediately.

^The

military engineer

^inAthens

who received the order felt certain that the consul

really

^{wanted the}

smaller ofthemasts. He

argued endlessly

with the soldierswho delivered the

request:

The smaller_mast,hetold

them,

^wasmuch better suitedto the task.And indeeditwould beeasier totransport.

Thesoldiers warned the

engineer

^{that theirmasterwasnota man to}

argue

with,

but he insistedthatthesmallermastwould bethe

only

^onethat

would work with^amachine thathe^was

constructing

^togo with^it.Hedrew

diagram

^after

diagram,

^{andwentsofarasto}say that he^wasthe

expert

^and

they

^{had no clue what}

they

^were

talking

about. The soldiers knew their leader andatlast convinced the

engineer

^{thatitwouldbebettertoswallow} his

expertise

^and

obey.

After

they left, though,

^the

engineer thought

^{aboutitsome more.What}

wasthe

point,

^{he asked}

himself,

ⁱⁿ

obeying

^anorder that would lead^tofail- ure?Andsohe sentthe smaller mast, confident that the consul would^see how muchmoreeffectiveitwasand reward him

justly.

Whenthesmallermast

arrived,

Mucianus asked his soldiersforanex-

planation. They

^{described to himhowthe}

engineer

^had

argued endlessly

forthesmaller mast, but had

finally promised

^{to send the}

larger

^one.Mu-

cianuswentintoarage. He could^notconcentrateonthe

siege,

^orconsider

the

importance

^of

breaching

^{the wallsbefore thetownreceivedreinforce»}

merits. All he could thinkaboutwas the

impudent engineer,

^{whomhe or-}

deredtobe

brought

^tohim

immediately.

Arriving

^afew

days ^later,

^the

^engineer gladly explained

^tothe

^consul,

one moretime,thereasonsfor thesmallermastHewentonand_on,

using

the^samearguments^{he hadmade with}the soldiers. Hesaiditwaswiseto

listento

experts

ⁱⁿthese matters, and^ifthe attackwas

only

tried with the

battering

^ramhe had sent,^theconsul wouldnot

regret

^itMucianus let him

finish,

then had him

stripped

naked before the soldiers and

flogged

^and

scourged

^{with rodsuntilhedied.}

Interpretation

The

engineer,

^{whosenamehasnot}been recorded

by history,

^hadspent^his life

designing

^mastsand

pillars,

^andwas

respected

^{asthe finest}

engineer

ⁱⁿ

a

city

^thathad excelledin the science. Heknewthat he^was

right.

^Asmaller

ramwould allowmore

speed

^andcarry^moreforce.

Larger

^{is notnecessar-}

ily

^{better. Ofcoursethe consulwouldseehis}

logic,

^{and would}

eventually

understand thatscience isneutralandreason

superior.

^{How couldthecon-} sul

possibly persist

^inhis

ignorance

^{if the}

engineer

^{showed himdetaileddi-}

agramsand

explained

^thetheoriesbehind his advice?

The

military engineer

^{was the}

quintessence

^{of the}

Arguer,

^at

type

found

everywhere

among^{us. The}

Arguer

^{doesnotunderstandthatwords}

are never

neutral,

^{and that}

by arguing

^witha

superior

^he

impugns

^theintel

ligence

^ofonemore

powerful

^{thanhe.Healso has}no awarenessof the per-

sonhe is

dealing

with. Since eachmanbelieves that heis

right,

^{and words}

will

rarely

^{convince him}

^otherwise,

^the

arguer’s reasoning

^{falls on deaf}

ears. Whencornered,he

only

argues^more,

digging

^hisowngrave. Once he has made the other person feel^insecureand inferiorinhis

beliefs,

^the

eloquence

^{ofSocratescouldnotsave}the situation.

It is not

simply

^a

question

^of

avoiding

^an

argument

with those who stand above_{you. We} all believe we aremastersin the realm of

opinions

and

reasoning.

^{You mustbe}

^careful,

then: Learn to demonstrate the cor- rectnessof_yourideas

indirectly.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In 1502, ⁱⁿ

Florence, Italy,

an enormous block of marble stood in the works

department

^{of the}church of Santa Maria del Fiore. It hadoncebeen

a

magnificent piece

^{ofrawstone, butanunskillful}

sculptor

^had

mistakenly

boredahole

through

^itwhere there should have been a

figure’s legs,

gen-

erally mutilating

^{it. Piero}

^Soderini,

Florence’s mayor, had

contemplated trying

^{tosavethe block}

by commissioning

Leonardo da Vincitoworkon

it,^{or some}other master,but had

given

up, sinceeveryone

agreed

^{that the}

stonehad been ruined.

So, despite

^themoney^thathad been wasted^onit,^it

gathered

^{dustinthedark}halls of the church.

Thiswaswhere

things

^{stooduntilsome}Florentine friends of thegreat

Michelangelo

^{decidedtowrite totheartist,then}

living

^{inRome. He}

^alone, they ^said,

^{could do}

something

^{with the}

^marble,

^{whichwasstill}

magnificent

rawmaterial.

Michelangelo

^traveledto

Florence,

examined the stone, and

cametothe conclusion that he couldinfact^{carve a}fine

figure

^{from it,}

by adapting

the pose^tothe waytherockhadbeenmutilated. Soderini

argued

that thiswas awasteof

time——nobody

^could

salvage

^{such a}disasterwbut he

finally agreed

^{to let the artist work on it.}

Michelangelo

^{decided he}

would

depict

^a.young

David, sling

^inhand.

Weeks

later,

^as

Michelangelo

^was

putting

the final touches ^on the statue, Soderini entered^thestudio.

Fancying

^{himselfitbit ofa}connoisseur, he .-studied the

huge ^work,

^{and told}

Michelangelo

that while he

thought

^it

was

magnificent,

^{thenose, he}

judged,

^wastoo

big. Michelangelo

^realized

that Soderini^was

standing

ⁱⁿ²

place right

^{under the}

giant figure

^{and did}

nothave the proper

perspective.

^Withouta

word,

^he

gestured

^forSoderini

to follow him up ^the

scaffolding. Reaching

^{the nose, he}

picked

up his

as wellas abit of marble dust that

lay

^{on the}

planks.

With Sodetini

just

^afewfeet below him ^onthe

scaffolding. Michelangelo

^startedtotap

lightly

^{with the}

^chisel, letting

the bits of dust he had

gathered

^{inhis handto}

fall little

by

^{little. He}

actually

^did

nothing

^to

change

^{the nose,} but gave every appearance^of

working

^{onit.Afterafewminutesof}this charade he stood aside: “Look ^{at it} now.” “I like it

better,” replied ^Soderini, “you’ve

madeitcomealive.”

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LAW 9 ^‘ 71

’l'llK ‘5r'§H§K\Ul’ AMKSIS

\-‘VhrnAprzerhad been

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Lrelorxgerl^tothe di.xrm:t

of^{Sui: andwas41}

nativrof^thetown calledSiuph^Atfirst

thelfgypzians^wem

inclinedtobe contemp- tuour, and did^not thinkmuchofhim

hccuuseof^{his humble} andlmdirtinguislzed origin,‘^{but lateronhe} cleverly brought^them

toheel.wizhouthaving

I'(’(:t)urSc‘soharsh rrzeaxures.

Amongst^hisz'zmrmwr- abletreamrer.hehm!1!

gold foothath,^{Whi(‘h he} andhisguests used^on m,-:,'a.s‘i()rztowmh their

feet^{tn.Thishr’ broke}

up,andwith themate-

rialhadastatus‘nuzrlze to oneof^thegods.

\v}z1ch he thenre:upⁱⁿ what hethought^the

mostsuimble spot in thecil‘_v.^TheEgywiarzr ('uIz.9‘lantl}?cmnmg uponthestatue.Irzatm’

it withprofototd^rever-

Price,andassoonas

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so{hayhmi boiler pay

72 LAW9

Interpretation

Michelangelo

^{knew that}

by changing

^the

shape

^ofthenosehe

might

^ruin

theentire

sculpture.

^{YetSoderiniwas a}

patron

^who

prided

^himselfonhis

aesthetic

judgment.

To offend such^{a man}

by arguing

^wouldnot

only gain Michelangelo nothing,

^{it would}

put

^future commissions in

jeopardy.

Michelangelo

^{was too clever to} argue. His solution ^{was to}

change

Soden‘m"s

perspective (literally bringing

^{him closer to the}

nose)

^without

making

him realizethat thiswasthecauseof his

misperception.

Fortunately

^for

posterity, Michelangelo

^{found a}way ^to

keep

the per

faction

^{of the}statue intactwhileatthesame time

making

Soderini believe he had

improved

^{it. Suchis}the double power of

winning through

^actions

ratherthanargument:^Nooneis

offended,

_{and your}

point

^isproven.

KEYS T0 POWER

In the realm ofpoweryou^mustlearnto

judge

your^moves

by

^their

long»

term effects on other

people.

^The

problem

ⁱⁿ

trying

^to prove ^a

point

^or

gain

^a.

victory through argument

^isthatinthe end you^{can never}becertain howitaffects the

people you’re arguing

^with:

They

may appear ^to agree with you

politely,

^{but inside}

they

may^resentyou. Or

perhaps something

you said

inadvertently

^{even offended} thern—-words have that insidious

ability

^tobe

interpreted according

^{tothe other}

person’s

^{mood andinsecuri-}

ties.Eventhe best

argument

^hasnosolid

foundation,

^{forwehave allcome}

todistrust the

slippery

^{natureofwords. And}

days

^after

agreeing

^withsome

one,^weofienrevert toourold

opinion

^{outofsheerhabit.}

Understand this: Words are adime^adozen.

Everyone

^{knows thatin}

the heat ofanargument,^wewillall say

anything

^to

support

^{our cause.We} will

quote

^the

Bible,

^refertounverifiablestatistics.Whocanbe

persuaded by bags

^ofairlike that? Action and demonstrationaremuchmorepower- ful and

meaningful. They

^{arethere, before our}eyes, for^usto

see-——“Yes,

nowthe statue’snosedoes look

just right.”

^{There are nooffensive}

^words,

no

possibility

^of

misinterpretation.

^{Noone can}argue with ^ademonstrated

proof.

^{As Baltasar Graciim}

remarks,

^{“The midi is}

generally

^seen,

rarely

heard.”

Sir

Christopher

^Wrenwas

England’s

^versionof the Renaissanceman.

He had mastered the sciences of

mathematics, astronomy, physics,

^and

physiology.

^Yet

during

^his

extremely long

^{career as}

England’s

^mostCele‘

brated architect he was often told

by

^his

patrons

^{to make}

impractical changes

^inhis

designs.

^Neveronce did he argue ^oroffend. Hehad other ways of

proving

^his

point.

In 1688 Wren

designed

^a

magnificent

^town hall for the

city

^{of West-}

minster.The mayor,

however.

^wasnot

satisfied;

^infacthewas nervous. He told Wren hewasafraid the second {floor^wasnot secure, andthatitcould allcome

crashing

^{downonhis officeonthe firstfloor.} He demanded that Wrenaddtwo stonecolumns forextra

support. Wren,

^{theconsummateen-}

gineer,

knew that these columns would serve no purpose, and that the

mayor’s

^{fears were baseless. But} build them he

did,

^{and the} mayor ^was

grateful.

^Itwas

only

years later that workmen^{on a}

high

^{scaffoldsawthat}

thecolumns

stopped just

^{short ofthe}

ceiling.

They

^{weredummies.Butbothmen}

got

^what

they

^wanted:Themayor could

relax,

and Wren knew

posterity

would understand that his

original dedgn

^{worked andthecolumnswere}unnecessary.

Thepower^of

demonstrating

yourideaisthat your

opponents

^donot get

defensive,

^{andarethereforemore}open^to

persuasion. Making

^{them lit-}

erally

^and

physically

^feelyour

meaning

^is

infinitely

^more

powerful

^thanare

gument.

A heclder once

interrupted

Nikita. Khrushchev in the middle of a

speech

^{inwhich he was}

denouncing

^thecrimesof Stalin. “Youwereacol-

league

^of

^Stalirfs,”

the heekler

yelled, “why

^{didn’t you}

stop

^{him then?”}

Khrushschev

apparently

^couldnotsee the heckler and barked out, “VVho saidthat?” No handwentup.Noonemoved^amuscle. Afterafew seconds oftense

silence,

^Khrushchev

finally

^saidina

quiet

^voice, “Now you know