Frank, I couldn’t agree more, at least prima facie.

Some arguments are simply power struggles. You can only overpower your opponent, submit, or walk away. In which case, truth units are about “seeing through” your opponent, nothing more, but this could be helpful in choosing how to respond to the situation.

In some arguments, people (who can listen and be reasonable) start off in defensive mode and leave no opening. Sometimes, you can start a prelude or sidebar to the argument by asking questions. Professional negotiators do this. They reframe the argument in terms of their opponents’ interests, show understanding and empathy, and show (not tell) their opponent a path to a win-win. Truth units can be helpful in identifying questions (based on “what’s your test?”) that get the ball rolling. No guarantees, but such strategies have been known to work.

People who are truly humble of opinion, kind, and keep open ears and minds might apply truth units without knowing it, because it’s already intuitive to them.

I despair for our culture. I see it as a struggle we might never win but cannot (at least mentally) abandon.

Here's a link to a truth units piece that goes into much more detail on these points:

https://medium.com/original-philosophy/a-truth-units-manifesto-part-2-3f9012874e89