Thanksgiving is the stereotypical U.S. holiday spent with relatives. Unfortunately, some relatives (and friends) may hold views or beliefs that conflict with your own, or are based upon counterfactual misinformation.

Because most holiday meals and events last several hours, it can be very aggravating to be cornered (or even pursued) by that aunt, uncle, cousin, or other relative who insists upon talking at you about things like politics, climate change, vaccines, or other potentially inflaming topics. Many people in those situations respond defensively because they feel like they’re being attacked. This generally leads to a “my beliefs are good, and yours are evil” or “my facts v. your facts” argument, which can dramatically deflate the “happy holiday” mood.

The good news is that there is a simple way to approach those situations that prevents you from getting angry, doesn’t immediately destroy the “happy holiday” vibe, and may even get the aggressive relative to back off.

Here’s the trick. Rather than challenging their beliefs (or their overt misinformation), try this: When your relative says something aggressive like “[Your........

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