Arguing for Argument's Sake

I have been arguing way too much lately. I am tired of it and have been trying to make a conscious effort to discontinue conversations that turn into arguments. However, last night I found myself purposely arguing with someone, just for the principle of it.

The person I was arguing with was spouting off information that they obviously had heard from a different source. They had not taken the information, questioned whether it made sense, whether it was backed up with valid data and whether it came from an appropriate source or not. They were making blanket statements that, maybe, seemed logical, if coming from a certain viewpoint, but which I saw as dangerous and demeaning if you were standing within the box this individual was speaking from.

So I argued and argued with this person. The truth is, there might have been something to their point (though they whole thing didn't make sense), but I wanted to force this person to think for themself, rather than hashing back faulty rhetoric that was left unquestioned and unchecked. They finally backed down, because it was obvious that I wasn't going to.

I didn't feel any victory. I just felt sad.