The Logic of Persuasion One of the most important things to know about disputes in the modern world is: If you’re debating substance, you’ve already lost. That is to say, if you are trying to convince a skeptic or win a debate, including debates over what policies and views will prevail in a church or other institution, by using factual, logical, rational arguments, you are very likely to lose and in fact, have probably lost already and just don’t know it yet.