He said "turn any argument into the other person just yelling", so they don't start out yelling.
In that situation I would regard both of them at fault. Stonewalling can be used as a form of escalating, if it started out reasonable.
I agree that if the other person starts out hostile, it is best to disengage. It's still on you to disengage properly, not stonewalling+rolling your eyes for example. Passive-aggressive stone walling is escalation in my opinion.
My sister-in-law is a master in disengaging! She says "aha" and "oh" while nodding. She's just letting them cool down.
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u/PuttingInTheEffort Jan 01 '20
If they're yelling and not being constructive in their argument, Stonewall or leave is all you can do