When I was a kid, we used to play "army.” This meant grabbing our toy guns, toy helmets, toy grenades, and whatever other war toys we had lying around so that we could pretend we were fighting a battle. If none of those toys were available, sticks and rocks would do.
In the course of this play, someone, and I don’t remember who, blended the science fiction TV shows of the day with this game of ours. We could now deploy a “force field” around ourselves that would protect us from all the imaginary bullets we shot at each other. As I recall, there was some sort of contrived etiquette for how often you could deploy your own force field. Otherwise, no one in the game would ever have to pretend to get shot.
One boy, let’s call him Sean, quickly embraced the “force field” tactic and used it every chance he got. He was so obnoxious about it that he ruined the game. He placed himself above the makeshift rules of a child’s game. He made himself tiresome, and so we quit playing the army game when he was around.
Oddly enough, I thought of this recently when I saw someone use the current-day debater’s version of that “force field.” This is something I had never given any thought to until one time when I was listening to the Scott Adams podcast Real Coffee with Scott Adams.
He took aim at people’s habit of making a baseless or unfounded claim with no evidence or support to back it up, and then ending with the word “period.”
It goes like this: Trans women are women. Period.
It’s like those who use the word are erecting the invisible force field after they make a statement, protecting them from any response from others. It effectively shuts down all conversation, discussion, or debate. Period.
When someone ends their sentence this way, they are telling you they have given up on trying to make a credible argument or point. All they want is for you to be quiet. This is quite insulting to the person you’re debating, but more importantly for you, it’s a loss and not a win.
Once you’ve indicated that you can no longer tolerate debate, you’ve surrendered. You’ve sent the message that you are narrow-minded and not open to others’ opinions. You’ve become less persuasive even if you may be generally correct. You’ve lost in the eyes of anyone watching.
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Instead of erecting your invisible force field in the form of that word – “Period.” – the better approach is to make your case. Present data, stories, anecdotal information, case studies, a joke — anything that helps you illustrate your point without trying to shut down the dialogue.
Need some examples of "Period." gone wrong? This one is from Sen. Pocahontas (D-Ancestry.com).
NEW: Donald Trump made 1,156 personal financial trades in July.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 22, 2026
It should be illegal for the president to trade individual stocks - period.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) says the president has no right to take the woke out of the Smithsonian. Period.
The Smithsonian does not belong to the President, to the Administration, or to any politician. It belongs to the American people.
— Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) September 18, 2026
Period.
We’re here today to say Hands Off the Smithsonian! pic.twitter.com/9Daa18o7wT
Remember the COVID-19 vaccine? Here’s Bob Costas making no case for the merits of the shot, but still insisting that you take it. Period.
The same night that Chris Cuomo berated Byron Donalds for not getting vaccinated, he had Bob Costas on to continue slamming the unvaccinated.
— MAZE (@mazemoore) August 19, 2026
Cuomo: "You heard the conversation I had with the Florida Congressman who needed to be corrected about how vaccines work."
I posted the… pic.twitter.com/NYBhjp3BOx
The point is, if you want to engage in and win a debate, the one thing that will destroy any case you want to make and destroy your credibility in the eyes of those watching the debate is to try to shut down the dialogue. Once you do that, you’ve lost.
The left is very good at losing in this way. They provide us with plenty of examples of what not to do.
And speaking of periods, happy “National Punctuation Day!” How are you celebrating? In our household, we will dash out to the store for all the items we need. To be sure, we’re spending a little less this year because we slashed our budget. My wife is now insisting we get a quote before spending any money. Later, friends and family will comma over for a nice brunch, which will underscore what this day is all about.
National Punctuation Day commemorates all punctuation on September 24th.
— Warren Sumner (@WarrenSumner71) September 24, 2026
A period, a comma, a semicolon, a question mark, and an exclamation point are examples of some of the punctuation used in writing❗️#September24th #NationalPunctuationDay #Punctuation pic.twitter.com/3irb6gjCpU
