Thoughts, Feelings and When to Lose an Argument

Lately I've found myself acquiescing a lot. I don't think that this is a bad thing, in fact, I think it's quite a healthy thing, a sensible thing, to give up an argument. Whenever I find myself disagreeing with someone about something, I've been catching myself halfway with this thought: which of us cares more? There's always one person who cares more than the other does in an argument, and, if it's not you, I think you should be able to realise it.
When you realise that you don't actually care about whatever it is you're arguing about it's much much easier to give in, gracefully. If, on searching your heart, you find that you do care, figure out why. Then use that why to bring the other person in line with what you're thinking. Take a time out from an argument if you have to calm down.
Of course, this doesn't really apply to intellectual arguments. I love a good intellectual argument. I find intellectual arguments challenging, refreshing and relationship building. Not so much with emotional arguments. Spending a full half hour debating whose turn it is to do the dishes, for example: that's rarely an intellectual debate. And expending emotional energy on something like that just seems... silly.
My brother and I had lunch together on Sunday. And we had the most annoying, silly argument about what we were going to do for lunch. He wanted to go to the shopping centre and buy Thai food - I had spent a solid twenty minutes in the shopping centre car park waiting in inch-by-inch traffic, with my car engine burbling dangerously, the day before and I was entirely against any thought of going back there. He thought it was an intellectual question, I knew it was an emotional one. It took us forever to figure out that I really really wanted to not go there more than he wanted to - and it took even longer for me to explain that it was an emotional and not an intellectual problem. In the end we went to my house and I made hoisin pork and all was good. But, man, the first half of that afternoon was exhausting.