Saying “good point” in an argument doesn’t mean you lost. It means you were listening.

Arguments drift into scorekeeping, and once they do, acknowledging anything feels like giving up ground. In practice the opposite happens: granting a real point makes everything else you say more credible, because you have shown you are tracking the argument rather than defending a position. The person who cannot agree with anything is the one who looks least sure.

Next time you disagree with someone, find the strongest thing they said and say so out loud. Then make your own point. The temperature drops and the conversation gets further in less time.