The person who doesn’t need to win the argument is the hardest one to manipulate.

Manipulation works by offering you something you want badly enough to pay for. If what you want is to be declared right, that is the handle. You can be provoked, baited, kept in a conversation, pulled into defending positions you do not even hold. Wanting it less removes the grip entirely, because there is nothing left to dangle.

Notice what happens in you when someone implies you are wrong. If there is a pull to settle it immediately, that is the handle. Practise letting one disagreement stay unresolved this week, and see how much less anyone can steer you.