Oftentimes, in the heat of debate, whether it be on the political stage or the interpersonal stage with our friends and loved ones, when we want to drive home our point, when we want to emphasize how right we are, we exaggerate, we distort the facts, which ultimately weakens our argument because when the opposing side recognizes that the issue is being misrepresented, the reaction is anger, resentment and further polarization. Best to stick to the facts and let them speak for themselves, even if they don't make as convincing an argument as we would like. When we exaggerate and distort, we are being dishonest, and this diminishes us as people, and it hurts our cause.