Out of curiosity
Do you most often feel that your ability or desire to continue a debate is limited by
a) Time available in which to debate?
b) The amount of energy or time you wish to devote to a debate?
c) The technical capabilities or noise of the medium, for instance no internet at home, no computer on which to type, loud ambient noise, slowness of newspaper publication, etc.?
d) Fatigue, loss of voice, or other physical limitations?
e) Lack of receptiveness in the opposition?
f) Your own rhetorical shortcomings?
g) Lack of faith in your own cause?
h) Feeling that you are actually being swayed by the opposition?
i) Actually changing your mind, and hence no longer having any need to debate.
j) Several of the above, if so, which?
k) Other, if so, specify.
Bonus question, actually what I'm most interested in: when was the last time a debate convinced you of something you didn't already believe in?
2 Comments:
k) The immediate realization that your opponent is a patvortesvin.
b)
I think that debates have several different conflicting purposes. It's not always about convincing the other person you're right.
That said, I think there are times when you can learn a lot about your position and how you feel without actually changing your mind. I think conversations are more about creating our ideas than convincing others of them.
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