A bit off topic, but whatever: I'd love to read more about methods of persuasion; I've done debate, but as you touch on, debate is a great way to have both sides become more entrenched in their beliefs. Any suggestions for reading material that expands on what you're talking about here?
Oh hell yeah. Jay Heinrichs has it going on. I wholeheartedly recommend his book Thank You For Arguing. Beyond that, I think anyone who ever has to convince someone else of something needs to have a pretty good handle on Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational and Jonah Lehrer's How We Decide. Yes, that Jonah Lehrer. It can't all be fake. If you find something else, let me know.
Well, he made up a bunch of quotes. There's a really cool bit in "How we decide" about a Scud missile and a british missile cruiser that I've been unable to find reference to anywhere else. I REALLY want it to be true because it's cool but I'm not sure it is.