Where a claim actually sits
Two people can agree on every fact and still argue for an hour, because they are not arguing about the facts. They are arguing about — how much it should carry, what it rules out, whose problem it becomes.
Name the shape of the claim before you defend it; half of all disagreement is a shape mistaken for a substance.
Three shapes worth naming
When a disagreement stalls, it is usually one of these three:
Scope — how far the claim reaches before it stops being true.
Burden — who has to move first, and what would count as moving.
Stakes — what actually changes if the claim holds.
Argue the shape and the substance takes care of itself. Miss it, and you can win every point and still lose the room — which is .