Should I argue with someone who won't listen to reason?

Rabbi Landau teaches that every argument has a price, “and you are the one paying it”: your time, your energy, your patience. When someone tells you the ocean is only knee deep, the moon is made of cheese, or elephants can fly, and something in you itches to fix it, his advice is simple: don't.

“The second you sit down to prove them wrong,” you have pulled up a chair at their table. You're not above them anymore. Now you're across from them, on the same level, playing the same game.

So, he says, just say “you're right” and walk away, “not because they are, because you are free.” That is exactly what King Solomon says: “Al ta'an k'sil k'ivalto pen tishveh lo,” do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, or you will become like him. Not every argument deserves your time, and sometimes the strongest response is no response at all.

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Arguing with a fool costs your time, energy, and patience, and you are the one who pays.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

Something in a person itches to correct what is plainly wrong, as if letting it pass were losing.

What may be behind it

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau notes that the verse says you will become like him: the moment you sit down on his level and play his game, you have already gone down.

Deepest human truth

Walking away is not weakness. You let it go not because he is right, but because you are free.