What I mean is they have determined that being stubborn and foolishly argumentive is somehow paying off for them... rather than picking their battles wisely and making sure they have reason and fact on their side.

I don't see any benefit for them, but surely they must, given their persistence at the Someday We Will Grind The Old Man Down game.

I figure that somewhere in their 20s a switch will click and they'll go, "oh man did we waste a lot of opportunities by keeping dad pissed off..."