The argument culture urges us to approach the world-and the people in it-in an adversarial frame of mind. It rests on the assumption that opposition is the best way to get anything done: Conflict and opposition are as necessary as cooperation and agreement, but the scale is off balance, with conflict and opposition over-weighted.

The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue (ed. Ballantine Books, 2012) - ISBN: 9780307765536