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I'd like to think that...
azstrummer — (archived)

my arguments have been not so much about facts and figures, which are certainly subject to verification and could produce a winner and loser, but instead about impressions based on my experience with human nature. In that case, I don't believe one can win or lose.

If I post a statement "Bush is an asshole", there's no disputing that I truly believe Bush is an asshole. Someone can try to present "facts" that show a lack of assholiness in Bush's decisions and can try to paint me into a corner to show that the mainstream media has clouded my ability to make my own mind up but we all know, at the end of the day that my mind is pretty much made up on the matter.

I also try to put some statement acknowledging the other side's motivation for believing as they do in my initial posts and showing my own propensity for some of the values espoused by the opposition. If we follow the history of debate, traditionally it's an effective tactic to seek common ground before finding the things one differs on. In almost all cases where my post has stirred serious and spirited or vitriolic debate, the opposition has tried to use that common ground against me or to ignore it completely. My impression is that a panel rating a debate like that would not view that as a viable tactic and would score in favor of the more conciliatory or brainstorming approach.

Let's face it. The arguments on here are doing nothing more than providing a literary entertainment value to all of us so why would we care if there are winners and losers? Even though I've felt my blood pressure rise a number of times or walked away feeling some smug self-assurance that I kicked ass, the long term results are nothing more than a personal experience.

If you truly care about this question, then maybe we can put a rating system into each post where each poster can sign up on one side or the other of the issue. At the end, once the post has reached a natural death, we can put the two sides up to a vote and ask who was more effective. (I'm kidding here of course. No matter what the vote, it would only stir more debate about voting improprieties.)

Art

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