Restaurant Review: Master Grill

As soon as I heard about the concept I knew that Master Grill was going to be the first restaurant I would visit after my move to Texas. I've never heard of the Brazilian steakhouse concept before this, and upon hearing of it I had to try it since it's the most Paleo-friendly restaurant I know of.

The setup is that after being seated you get this little plastic token that has a green and red side that indicates whether you're open to a goucho (meat server) coming to your table and offering a selection of meat, to be carved off right onto a serving plate. It's all you can eat, and additionally there's unlimited access to an extensive salad bar that has meats, darkened and chilled vegetables, cheeses, and more. Check their menu here.

The decor is quite cozy and relaxing, with the atmosphere controlled to let only so much sunlight in, leaving the rest to golden light fixtures. I was seated towards the front by the greeter, and in hindsight I slightly regret that decision since it looked so much more soothing in the back. It's not gorgeous inside or anything, but everything is put together to be worth deeming professionally acceptable.

I planned way in advance to come in quite hungry to take nearly unfair advantage of their buffet, as I fasted for over 24 hours and did some weight lifting two hours prior, and was not disappointed. My token was on the green side virtually the whole time I was there, and in between meat servings I raided the salad bar of its many items and things unknown to me, hurrying to make sure I made it back to my table before the gouchos went back into their dwelling.

While there being only be a single table of salad bar items may seem small, the variety is very satisfying. The spread includes floral and citrusy roasted bell peppers, silky raw salmon with sour capers, mild and salty cheeses, spiced and peppery potato cubes, shrimp with paper-thin shells, smoky salami, and more. From the Paleo perspective what pleased me the most is that the majority of the buffet is subsumed under my nutritional guidelines, with very little straying from it. I gorged myself on a much as I could, but soon I lost my adventurousness in favor getting extra helpings of asparagus, roasted peppers, and that delightful salmon. I usually prefer all my vegetables hot, but they were a good temperature and texture contrast. The cheeses were the low point, as most of them are very mild, the strongest one hardly registering as salty, and were drowned out with the other flavor pairings. I couldn't taste the mozzarella at all.

The star of the show, of course, is the meat. It was always to my pleasure to see the goucho approaching me, bringing a surprise on a skewer, and the green token ensured constant visits. They didn't give entire cuts -- say, a whole chicken breast -- but the portions were doled out at the perfect tasting size, allowing me to have room for every single meat they had. My first offering was the bacon wrapped chicken breast, which was chicken done right. It was juicy, salty, porky, grassy, and slightly sweet all at once, no flavors interfering with each other. From here I don't remember the exact order of my dining, but I believe I was given the Parmesan pork next. It's too bad they don't offer that cheese in the salad bar, for it's my favorite: Sharp, tangy, highly salty. The covered pork underneath is mild and succulent once gotten to. The leg of lamb soon followed, a new meat to me, and has an decent marbling and equal, mild parts gamey and sweet taste. A good introduction. The top sirloin has a great spicy and burnt crust, strongly similar to the wonders of outdoor barbecues, with a unsullied and beefy interior. The pork sausage was sweet and tangy. The finish of my tasting array came with what I believe I heard to be hotel steak, which was smack dab medium-rare and had the strongest of all the fatty flavors. A good healthy greed made me ask for extra helpings of the chicken and lamb. (My second regret: Not getting more of that Parmesan pork.)

Not all was great, however. Flank steak was another new cut I was pleasured to try, but it was an overdone-gray and overcooked bland. Garlic is one of my favorite things to pair with beef, but their garlic beef has too much an overwhelming burnt and smokey taste, the garlic probably destroyed by the heat. My biggest disappointment was the filet migon wrapped in bacon, which came off more as a firm sausage saturated with bacon flavor.

Due to my nice workout I thought to have some dessert, choosing the chocolate cheesecake sitting atop a grid of caramel and mango sauce. Delectable. The cocoa mingles with the slightly funky cream cheese wonderfully, and I was determined to wipe off just about every drop of that sharp mango sauce underneath, though the caramel is overridden.

I ate until I was bloated, but it was worth it to have eaten more than I paid for. I walked out satisfied with my choice and am already getting hungry thinking about my next visit there, whenever that will be. At worst the servers could work to make themselves more visible, as several times throughout the evening I lost track of my waitress and sat parched for water for several minutes. Nonetheless everyone showed good concern for my experience, and did well to remember my requests even as they took a long time to process, especially that one goucho who cooked a leg of lamb at my sole asking. However, I felt like I was slighted come dessert, as I didn't know they charged extra for it and saw no pricing guide beyond the buffet cost; it's not even on their website. That's unfair.

The execution isn't mind-blowing, but it's the best buffet I've ever been to and am gung-oh to recommend. If you want to minimalize the expense like I have, you'll do best to weight train and deprive your stomach like I did, to make possible a great gorging on the feast they have.

Restaurant Reviews

I've finally gotten myself back into work, which now means I can move onto some other goals and pursuits, namely my culinary education. While I'll certainly be more detailed on my spectrum of goals sometime in the future, for now I'm concerned with detailing the development of my palate. For that, I need to eat.

I need to do more extensive thinking as to how I should handle my finances, but at this moment I am thinking that I ought to strive to go to a fine dining restaurant at least once a month for educational purposes (and gastronomical pleasure). It might be monetarily demanding, but a necessary part of my self-development that becomes painlessly integrated into my life's purpose. For the value I'm getting in knowledge and experience it's quite a cheap price to pay, as no one should hesitate to trade one value for a higher one.

To broaden my writing skills in conjunction I'm thinking about writing restaurants reviews, which will not only strengthen my writing but also train my culinary and restaurant thinking, so expect to see them here at least once a month. I cannot promise you a consistent schedule, as I need to coordinate my dining with my work schedule since I'm always going to want to attend dinner service. That means sometimes I might dine on Sunday and have the review on Monday, and other times I might dine on Tuesday and put the review out on Thursday. No consistency.

Ratings wise, I'm not so sure what to do. Given my lack of sophistication I wouldn't dare do something such as a five-star system, but I don't want to be as simple as my chocolate reviews where I either recommend it or I don't. More thinking must be done.

Given my limited range I may not be speaking much to people who have access to these restaurants, but hopefully my readers can find value in thinking about what food concepts they're interested in and seek them in their own areas.

Fluctuating Environments Enriches the Mind?

It's interesting what you can learn about yourself when you become attentive at the right time.

I've mentioned it a few times here and there, but one thing I haven't emphasized much is how I'm a proponent of the productivity methodology detailed in Getting Things Done by David Allen. At first glance it seems like just another way to set up those dreaded to-do lists, but Mr. Allen meticulously takes into account and identifies various facets of human psychology towards being productive, so his system differs in that it strives to clear one's mind of worries of other activities by constructing lists that are meticulous, very well distinguished among different actions, and downright intuitive. The end point is not to just have to-do lists, but to have a set of lists that discourages evasion of what you have to do and prevents worrying about what you're not doing. I have set up such lists and it plays a big role in my life, certainly having increased greatly my productivity.

However, the downside is that all of my lists are kept on my computer. To avoid discouragement and monotony, I've chosen to go the electronic route in keeping lists so that they're quicker to set up and edit, and I don't have to rewrite them from day to day. It's so great I'll never go back to paper planners ever again. The downside is that it means I'm most productive when I have access to my computer, and I'm still utilizing a non-portable desktop PC.

It wasn't until recently that I've been struck by how significant this fact is. While waiting for the details of my new job (though I have started another one) I've largely been focusing on my writing and reading. The only hand-writing I do at length is for my introspection journal, meaning everything else is typed on my computer, and to keep track of my reading assignments, progress, and book rentals I need access to my computerized lists and library account, so combined together I depend pretty heavily on my computer to keep track of my life and activities, regardless of whether or not the computer is actually needed in the task. As such, I'm often glued to one spot.

Recently while traveling about town and being exposed to changing environments I was intrigued by how refreshed and energized I felt. It's strange because the particular activities I was engaged in weren't very high values to me, so to observe such a level of inner renewal in contrast to other activities I value higher was interesting. Instantly I was reminded of a post I read on Mark's Daily Apple about how changing one's environment can improve one's study capabilities. (I can't find it.) Physiologically, could that be what was at work here? Could being around different environments on a regular basis be mentally refreshing?

I'm entertaining this question, of course, because studying and frequent learning plays a huge role in my life. I've seen what wasted lives non-thinkers lead, so I don't intend to follow the same path. Logically, I'm always open to new ways to enhance my study methods and learning potency, and simple things like these seem like they're worth trying.

Could humans be wired in a way that makes it so that being in a monotonous environment is more damaging beyond that of mere boredom? Could changing environments on a regular basis enhance one's learning through the refreshing change of atmosphere? While I admit this could all possibly be hardly justified and easily refuted, I'm tempted to try it. So long as I learn to filter out distractions, like that of other people about, introspecting on the past reveals to me that such changes were consistently enlivening to my mind and thinking.

I'll have to do more thinking and research on this, but at first glance it seems like it may be a worthy goal to save up for a laptop and smartphone, so that I can more easily carry my productivity tools with me, especially my broad lists. It's an entertaining goal to word, but I'm thinking about sticking myself in random places and seeing how it affects my ability to be mentally productive.

Bearing the Bad Times

Times are undoubtedly getting bad. Not only for the United States, but for the entire world. The economy is quite bad off, and with current political actions it's probable, if not certain, that a bout of intense inflation (or hyperinflation?) could come our way and eradicate everyone's savings. US foreign policy is a mess, with our enemies largely being ignored and unimpeded in their murderous endeavors, leaving the possibility for devastation in the future, while American soldiers engage in fruitless combat in obscure locales for obscure purposes and clear-cut failure. Laws are getting more dictatorial and ambiguous, eroding freedom more rapidly ever before, and the assault is going to continue for years yet. With things as difficult as this it can be easy to get depressed in assessing the situation, and that's probably the mindset of most of the people in the US today, particularly Objectivists, who with special emphasis pay attention to the culture at large.

These past several weeks this is what has been upsetting me, mostly, as I hate viciously problems I have to deal with that are not of my own making or moral failure. I am thoroughly attached to the notion of living by my own judgement and living or failing by that alone, so to suffer due to someone else's evil is downright infuriating. But I must, as we all, deal with it, for it's a problem already long here, with no other option than for me to tackle it. While it's easily to speculate on the matter of degrees, it's hardly contestable that things are going to get worse. Life -- true life: full happiness -- will be delayed for all of us.

But I have come to terms with this negativity, and aside from recognizing it I am learning to cope with it. It can be easy to despair over such issues and to sense that things are hopeless. If they truly were, however, then wouldn't you be dead? Without any prospect of anything to live for, wouldn't you cease maintaining your life? Your sustained living shows you're still here on earth for a reason. I myself still believe life is worth living, and beyond that I believe there's still reason to be objectively hopeful for the future.

Even as terrible as things are, I still maintain the same optimism I had in 2009, and recent happenings are strengthening my case. It's too easy to lose hope for the future and happiness when a terrible piece of legislation is passed, such as mentioned in that post, or when a disaster happens, such as the earthquake in Japan, but we must remember to introspect on the entire context and to take a bird's eye view of things, waiting to arrive to conclusions until after a distressed mood passes. Additionally, I think there are also some methods to maintain some base level of contentment during the meanwhile, to bear the stress during the bad period.

The best sign of positive change is on the cultural front regarding ideas. As I've noted elsewhere, people are more and more starting to discuss and debate alternative ideas to long-held dogmas, which indicates that the battle of ideologies have already begun. You know how Galileo, the scientist, was arrested by a church and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment? (In his own home, I believe.) He was in a legitimately hopeless situation. His mind was so potent that he was identifying aspects of nature that nobody else had before, making him the only man in the world, at his time, to have knowledge of such facts. (I don't know much about Galileo, except that arrest was his fate.) That situation can be summarized as one man literally against the world, and in his own personal realm it was a battle in which he was overwhelmingly outnumbered and could not win in his lifetime, though at least passed on his ideas to other generations. Given the impossibility of his situation -- judging from the limited context of his personal happiness, not his cultural impact -- despair would be the logical and inevitable response of any person in his shoes, and reasonably so. But this is far from the situation today -- far, far, far away. It's not the case that only one or two people are holding positive ideas against a crushing world of opposition, but rather that there are thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of people who hold better ideas to combat the ones being practiced today. And I don't mean just strict Objectivists either; in addition to those people, there are also helpfully sympathetic people who are, while not fully adhering to the philosophy, do agree with some of its most important aspects (e.g. the capitalist politics), and furthermore there are still good people who are neutral or innocently mistaken and can still be reached with honest and respectful debate. Even counting Objectivists alone is a sign of hope, as they are many and still sufficient to greatly offset any "one man against the world" scenario.

Besides that, many of the advocates of bad ideologies have self-defeating behaviors which thoroughly limits the reach they have. Evil ideas have bad and evasive epistemology at their root, so most, if not all, of these people who operate on these ideas have not thoroughly or honestly thought about them before accepting them, so their potency in persuasion is limited. People who are not honest usually ignore alternative ideas in debate, become hostile in their behavior, run away from challenge, and so on. Let's just think about these three behaviors. If they ignore alternative ideas in debate, then how can they strengthen their arguments to take into account the alternatives that are being given? Their opponents are made all the more powerful by such evasions. If they become hostile in their behavior, then what type of people are they going to appeal to or repulse? They'll likely garner the weak-willed afraid of disagreement and people who already agreed with their conclusions, and the honest and respectful people will listen more attentively to those who not only present their case calmly and respectfully, but also take into account alternative ideas and modify their positions to acknowledge them. And if evil apologists decide to run away from challenge, then what's going to stop the good guys from spreading their ideas? Fewer challenges mean fewer impediments, and with continued evasions the evil guys could wake up one day with a culture past its ideological tipping point. Truly the battle of ideas must be fought against the inertia of old ones, as the evil advocates of rotten ideas don't put up a competent fight and only have the advantage of pre-established traditions and habituated thinking.

Concretely, we can see good ideas are getting mentioned more and more all the time. Our politicians may be stuck in their thinking and destructive courses, but it seems the American people aren't staying mentally idle. Opposition to current politics is being sustained and strengthened by the continued destruction. Just look at how the Ayn Rand Institute is flourishing. In just a span of two or three years, they've been making more television and radio appearances, putting out newspaper columns and blog articles, giving frequent lectures, getting increasing donations and support, building new offices in various states, and there's probably more I'm not aware of. To see this dramatic increase of life in the institution in just a span of a few short years is impressive, and we can expect to see it increase its impact for a long while yet, especially given the sales spike of Atlas Shrugged due to the newly released movie.

In the meanwhile things are just going to have to get bad since cultural momentum has driven us to this point, and yes it will be painful. Aside from looking at the facts that justify objective hope for the future, there are ways to grin and bear the frustration in the meanwhile. As difficult things are, I've been thinking about what facets constitute thorough happiness in human beings, and I think that if we were able to just at least satisfy the very fundamental needs of our psychology in the meanwhile, things would be more tolerable during the period they must be bad.

My thinking is hardly in depth at this point, but I've been introspecting on how such a small thing as being back to work has satisfied me. I value my career to the point that I don't think I'll ever retire from working, unless it meant moving from one field to another, and being back to work has satisfied me on a deep level. During my labor-intense shift I noticed I was actually getting increasingly relaxed and started doing refreshing exhaling. Given my view on the role of work in one's life I have a psychological need to work, and working satisfies it. I don't even think all that much about the money; just whether I'm doing my job well. If things go to hell and we're all poorer, I would still be satisfied if I were still minimally employed, scraping by. I may not be able to pursue my fullest happiness given economic restrictions, but it would at least basically satisfy the need.

Another facet I've been thinking about is the need for valuable friendship. I tolerate alone time quite well and even enjoy it, but I'm starting the feel the pain of being alone spiritually. Given complications from my past life, I've seldom had satisfying relationships with people who share my worldview, and I crave to meet those people so as to add value to my own life and keep before me the good that exists in this world. If I were to satisfy that need, then my contentment would increase and my life would be richer, making for another facet of my being that has been satisfied.

What I'm trying to say here is that one's psychological needs is composed of various facets which have requirements for satisfaction, and to leave any one unsatisfied is to reduce one's satisfaction with life and bring on uncomfortable, even painful longings. I'm not sure how many facets there are, but I can at least think of career and friendship as two. I assert that if one were to satisfy the barest basic requirements of all these facets, then a deep-down contentment can be nurtured and render one more resistant to the stresses of the world. Without these general satisfactions, then the pains of the world will intensify in their stressful nature. To paraphrase Atlas Shrugged, with inner satisfaction set then pain will only go down so far, never succeeding to erode the fundamental contentment. I'll have to do more thinking about what other facets there are to be tended to, but I'm starting to take steps and am planning on leading a more active social life, including attending an Objectivist Society here in Texas.

The bad times are here to stay for now, but I don't think they will be permanently. There are many objective signs for hope for a better future, and we shouldn't let our emotions get the best of us and decide everything is hopeless just because a single bad event has happened. And even while the bad times are here there will still be some values untouched and available to pursue, contributing to the happiness of one's life, so while the bad times must be endured it is these values one should concentrate on.

If you or I really judged things to be hopeless, then I don't think either of us would continue living. Why would we? And yet, here we are. I think life is still worth living all the way to its natural end, and I think you do too.

Chocolate Review: Hageland Costa Rica 71%

I was browsing around a Wal-mart during my last months in Michigan when I was suddenly enticed by the beckoning picture of a golden dog demon from the various shelves of chocolate, and I couldn't resist picking it up. It seems awfully high-class to be found in such a place as Wal-mart, and even more surprising is that it's apparently only carried by them exclusively. I couldn't even find an online shopping venue! Anyhow, the demonic chocolate is Hageland's 71% Costa Rica, and it marks another foray into single-origin bars.

To get one vice out of the way, the bar looks lazily designed, rivaling the lack of inspiration seen in Theo bars. The whole bar is divided into squares that are slightly raised into a partial dome shape, with these high ridges on the end that almost look like handles for gripping. There is positively no artwork or company branding anywhere, so it's entirely plain and boring, though I appreciate enough that it's clean looking and cut precisely. Otherwise, it has a dull glossiness that doesn't qualify as a shine and a quiet "clicking" snap, making overall mediocre aesthetics.

The perfume is complex with nutty and sharp fruit traits, with a floral overtone permeating everything. In tasting, things start off with a hit of coffee and warmly spiced cocoa, slowly transitioning through a fruity period and ending with smoked cocoa. It's soft, slow-melting, and kind of lumpy, but at least is acceptable texturally. Eating without care, the dominant theme seems to be the fruity tones.

It's not a dazzling or assertive flavor sensation, given many of the notes are mild, but I like it. The complexity of the factors to pay attention to alone makes for a more enjoyable experience, demanding the use of one's intellect and precise attention. However, I much prefer Godiva's single-origin bar over this one, for theirs is much sharper and assertive, not to neglect a little cheaper too.

It was a nice treat, but probably one I won't exert to obtain again. It's worthy, though at the same time it's passable given better alternatives.

Weekly Summary # 26

Unfortunately I did not get the details of my new job yet, so this week was mostly spent writing and perusing the massive stack of library books I have. It was satisfactorily productive, but I've got to push harder than this to reach my ideal level of functioning. At the very least it's good to be having my mind fed again, though I strongly wish to supplement the process with active note taking. Here's this week's checklist:

1.) Take notes on everything I taste: I did for the most part, but I forgot a meal and then eventually gave up when I realized it wasn't making me think any more intensely about the food. Some additional thinking made me realize that my problem is not that I'm not tasting my food seriously enough -- I do -- it's that I have a deficient tasting vocabulary. It's one of those things where you want to express something of the sorts but either cannot recall the proper concept or do not know the concept at all, which in my case makes it so I cannot identify the sensations I'm experiencing. Here I think I merely need to expand my vocabulary, and perhaps I'll be able to better make identifications on my own from there.

2.) Take a cold plunge (i.e. cold shower) every shower session: Done. A session or two I hesitated, but I remained disciplined and took them, even managing to persevere for five minutes during all sessions. Overall it has indeed relaxed me, even pushing me to the brink of sleep multiple times. The shower in this household doesn't even get that frigid, so about a minute in it becomes nice and endlessly refreshing. I'll continue it, though I'm wondering if there's such a thing as doing it too much. I'll aim for doing it about twice a week from now on, not including the sessions I'll take after a workout in the gym.

3.) Get a gym membership: Nope. Still waiting.

4.) Go to Master Grill steakhouse: Same as above.

5.) Read a chapter a day of two books: Pretty much; I need to modify my view on what constitutes reading. I read a chapter a day of What Einstein Told His Cook and even finished it (exemplary book), but I read only in small sections Will Write for Food. The latter book turned out not to be as totally valuable as I thought it was, so instead of wasting my time trying to read it cover to cover I just skimmed through and concentrated on what I viewed to be beneficial. I view this as a rational process in going about one's reading given finite time, but it makes me feel conflicted about what constitutes having "read" a book. Since I didn't read all the pages it cannot contribute towards my New Year's goal of reading twenty books, but then again isn't that splitting hairs?

From here I'll fret less. Only books that have been read cover to cover will contribute to my twenty books goal, but if I don't view certain sections of a book as beneficial to my being then I'll duly skip them as I only have a finite amount of time and energy, which would make trying to read all of such a book an unfruitful endeavor. It confuses me as to how I'll be able to rightly word my reading goals from now on given that I'm allowing myself to peruse books like this, but I guess I'll rest content with my readers knowing my practices and that I'll make it explicit each time I skim.

* * * * *

An intellectually fruitful week, but I am getting incredibly lonely now, being away from work and like-minded people for so long. In addition to daydreaming vigorously about being back in the restaurant kitchen, I've also been daydreaming about friendships too. It's a painful desire, but at least I can partially satisfy it with these thoughts. Soon enough; I must continue being patient.

Again this shall be another flexible week. Mostly I'd like to up my reading load to keep myself more mentally rigorous than I have been, if possible, though at the same time things will be healthfully supplemented by the routine ideas I come up with for day-to-day goals, which makes for filled days even as my weekly goals seem empty.

Here are the aims for this week, which may be added to by the time you see this checklist next week:

1.) Look up online cooking schools: While I have a bad view of colleges overall, I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that culinary school may be a benefit given my aims.

2.) Read one Robert L. Wolke article from the Washington Post per day: What Einstein Told His Cook was a positively absorbing book. I've quickly become a very big fan of Mr. Wolke and recommend him full-heartedly.

3.) Read a chapter/section a day of The Guide to the New American Kitchen, What Einstein Told His Barber, and Mind Over Mood: It's great to be reading studiously like this again. I predict I'll be able to finish the Charlie Palmer book this week and will try to finish WETHB too. Mind Over Mood is for my general self-improvement and lovability goals.

4.) Look up and learn more tasting concepts: Simple vocabulary exercises.

That's all for now. Additionally, I'll also be working on improving my writing habits and perhaps increasing my output. Writing, for some reason, has been more enjoyable lately. If work calls, of course, these goals might be disrupted. But then again I should push harder, no?

Civil Debate: Concerns and Practices

On the forefront of my mind lately is the topic of civil debate, as it's been becoming more and more relevant in my life. Contrary to the past, I've been finding myself in more situations where people are very expressive of their opinions, and as part of several self-improvement concerns, including activism and my lovability goals, I would like to flesh out my ideas on this subject more and establish some new habits so that I'm better and more persuasive as a person.

The most dominant problem is the fact that I'm most consistently silent on my views, even when hearing views I agree with, for fear of the other person's reaction. This strikes me as strange, for I remember a time in my youth in which I was very open about ideological matters, even freely bringing up matters of theology in casual conversation. Now I hardly express my opinions in person at all. This must be due to my last several years spent in suppressing my character and views given that I was constantly around people who couldn't handle the slightest disagreement. Often as a response to my differing views I would get yelled or shouted at, be insulted or intimidated, have my statements misrepresented, be spoken to in snobby tones, be walked out on, get ignored, have my voice drowned out by electronics, and more. And this is just in mostly 1-on-1 conversations where, for the most part, the other person is most responsible for having initiated or left themselves open to the discussion to begin with. As such, even when I'm in the company of people I agree with, I tend to keep to myself because I feel people are ticking bombs quickly ignited by any sense of difference. I mean it literally when I speak of these past people getting upset by the slightest disagreement. Once a guy contested my nutritional views in a very polite and respectful tone during a party and properly dropped the issue when we didn't reach an agreement, but after the party some people threw a fit about the debate and were awed by the guy's "rudeness," demanding he be banned from an upcoming get together. The slightest disagreement.

I know, however, that many people are of course not this ridiculously sensitive to having their views challenged, but it still frightens me. Ideally I'd like to reattain that state in my youth were I could freely speak about the deepest issues without the slightest discomfort and render myself immune to any opponents' discomfort, but I don't know how to go about that. Rubberducking seems like an obvious candidate for practice, as I could treat an inanimate object as a debate opponent, but it still seems questionably limited since I may not be able to project all the ways an opponent could respond. All in all, it looks at this point like I just need to throw myself out there against my discomfort.

There are also a couple more additional concerns that are making me hesitate on expressing my views. For one, what is the best and most polite way to correct someone? This is most related to my fear of setting off someone's temper, for I don't want to go about an improper way of correcting someone's facts or understanding while trying to persuade them that mine is correct. At the very least I know which assertions are and are not essential to the point, so I'm not in danger of desiring to correct the entirety of a person's statement, even their trivial points.

Secondly, though a derivative of the first question, what is the best way to deal with facts in general, in both conveying them and dealing with an opponent's? At the tip of my thoughts are those facts that are just plainly asserted without reference to proof or where/how they learned of it, leaving their point vacuous and unmoving. For instance, recently a guy tried to teach me how the body uses a specific form of energy, but he referred to no scientific tests or valid method through which he came to hold this conclusion. It's just "floating." As for my views on how to properly convey facts, I do at least work to remember roughly the sources I learned of something or had my thoughts provoked from, but I worry about conveying other information in the most concise manner possible while still using a valid method and being persuasive.

Has anyone more developed thoughts on this than I? What do you think?