The psychology of losing an argument I was watching a program on TV that was about human interactions and basic psychology. In the show, it had two people arguing one apparently winning with the loser avoiding eye contact. The winner was obviously enjoying himself. I decided to try it on my friend, 's sister's five-year-old daughter. Don't worry I'm not a pervert. I was visiting my friend while his sister and niece were there. The little girl was next to her mother and she didn't know me that well. I looked at the child and said softly come here. The little girl shook her head and got close to her mother. I looked away and avoided eye contact and gestured with my finger into empty space and said softly. Yes. Again the child shook her head but with interest this time. I again said come here. This time the child didn't seem frightened and again said no. I looked into empty space again, gestured with my finger at nothing and softly said yes. The child was intrigued and interested. This time when I asked her to come here she shook her head looking at my finger and again I gestured with my finger saying yes in a soft voice. This time she gestured with her finger and said no. I then said yes looking away and the child gestured again and said no. In a pitiful voice, I said yes again and then the child gesturing with her finger firmly said no. By now her mother had noticed and started laughing. This stopped my experiment but the child hung around me the rest of the day and I was able to keep her entertained with a children's book she had brought over. Apparently deliberately losing an argument can get you a friend.