![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On debates
Oct. 21st, 2005 05:18 pmA point very often missed online or elsewhere: debates are not merely about being correct. They are about communicating that correctness effectively. Hostile, inadequate methods of expression won't serve you well, no matter how correct you are.
And if you come into a debate with a sincere belief in your position but also an open mind to the other's position being the correct one, you're more likely to come out a winner even when you lose, at least in the sort of debate that produces useful results such as clarification of ideas rather than mere butting of heads.
If both sides do not have this basic attitude, the debate most often degrades into nothing but affirmations of belief and so much wasted verbiage.
And if you come into a debate with a sincere belief in your position but also an open mind to the other's position being the correct one, you're more likely to come out a winner even when you lose, at least in the sort of debate that produces useful results such as clarification of ideas rather than mere butting of heads.
If both sides do not have this basic attitude, the debate most often degrades into nothing but affirmations of belief and so much wasted verbiage.
