Defending a take you stopped believing just to win the argument is a slow way to lose yourself.

Somewhere in the middle of an argument the goal quietly changes from being right to not losing, and you keep defending a position you have privately abandoned. Each time, the gap between what you say and what you think widens, and you grow a little less sure where you actually stand. Winning that way costs more than the argument was worth.

Next time you feel the switch, name it out loud: say you need to think about it, and mean it. You can come back tomorrow with your real view. Nobody remembers who won a conversation last week.