Here is a true story that may have some indirect bearing on the discussion:

Several years ago, a friend of mine annoyed me by saying that he “had no need to win an argument.” Oh, he engaged in debates, and usually proved his points, but if he sensed another person getting the upper hand, winning was suddenly “beneath him.”

Not only was this guy in Mensa, now he fancied himself an Enlightened One. That was ok if he meant it, but I suspected he was as human as anyone. I devised a plot.

Sitting across from my Mensan friend in a Shoney’s booth, I asked my friend to hold a sealed envelope.

“What is this?” he asked.

“I’ll explain later,” I said. “Let’s order. I’m hungry.”

After we ordered our food, I commented, “Lee Iacocca really turned General Motors around.”

“Iacocca is not with GM,” said my friend. “He used to be with Ford and now he’s with Chrylser.”

“No,” I said. “I believe it’s GM.”

We argued over this for a few minutes.

“Don’t you remember,” I insisted. “Iacocca desinged the Buick Skylark!”

“You’re crazy!” he said. “The man works Chrysler! Hold on a minute.”

He got up, went to his car, and returned with a Time Magazine with Iacocca on the cover. It so happens, I knew that magazine was in his car (it might have been Newsweek).

“Open the envelope,” I said, referring to the envelope I had given him earlier.

The letter inside the envelope said,

“I knew Lee Iacocca wasn’t at General Motors. He started out at Ford and then went to Chrylser. I only said GM to prove a point. Did it not feel good to prove thay you were right? To win the argument? Of course it did, because you are human like the rest of us.”