What is the point of debate?

[SoulRanger92]

Ok, at first this may seem like a stupid thing to ask ,but if you really look at it may seem less stupid.
This is how I think about it let's say you're debating a subject. The point of said debate is to get the opposing debating side to see things your way; eventually turning them to your side if possible. If you and this secondary party are trying to get the other side to listen ,s it were, is it even possible to win?
What are your thoughts on this matter?

 

[walls of cetepedes]

Without debate, disagreement dissolves into violence.

 

[APPCRASH]

What the fuck is debate? All I hear is retarded comments on why certain video games are better than others and if someone disagrees they are deemed a fag. Hell, sometimes you can't even side with something without being called a "fanboy."

 

[GodsOneMistake]

Sometimes people can be swayed, and many debates aren't about getting the other to side with you, but about getting the people listening to side with you

 

[ZeroMachine]

Debate is a chance to do many things:

1. Convince others of your point,
2. Learn more about what you are debating and possibly change your view,
3. Get to know the people you're debating (for better or worse),
4. Win some people's trust and respect whether they agree with you or not,
5. Look like a wise, intelligent individual,
6. If the subject or opponent calls for it be a complete dick and be able to justify it ;P

Without debate, disagreement dissolves into violence.

Also, this.

 

[hansari]

Sometimes people can be swayed, and many debates aren't about getting the other to side with you, but about getting the people listening to side with you

Rarely do you convince someone in a debate...in a formal one both sides are listened to, but when you apply it to real life...more often then not, both sides will remain adamant in their beliefs. (sometimes stubbornly even when proven completely wrong)

 

[ShadowKatt]

How about just for the fun of it? I love a good arguement, until it falls into immature namecalling and general bigotry.

 

[bookboy]

Without debate, disagreement dissolves into violence.

but more than a few debates have opened up into violence.

 

[Mad Maniac with axe-firing chainsaw]

Two forms of debate I know of are:

Discussion: Discuss an issue that two or more people or groups disagree with; come to a point of agreement. Succeeds whem both/all sides agree on common points and have disregarded discredited ones. Fails if neither side has agreed on anything at the end of the discussion.

Public debate: Two groups contest an issue to convince a third party. Success here is making your argument sound more convincing that the other side, truth or not. Failure is when the other side is more convincing.

 

[GoldenRaz]

Of course it's possible, I lost one here on the Escapist when a certain member (that will remain anonymous for now) managed to point out a flaw in my way of thinking.
Because that's also, to a certain point, what a debate is about: highlighting problems with your "opponents" way of thinking.

 

[Captain Pancake]

The point of debate is to turn opinion into fact, or something therein.

 

[ZeroMachine]

How about just for the fun of it? I love a good arguement, until it falls into immature namecalling and general bigotry.

Here here, it's always nice to have a civil debate about an interesting topic!

The point of debate is to turn opinion into fact, or something therein.

Opinion can never be fact.

 

[Good morning blues]

Ok, at first this may seem like a stupid thing to ask ,but if you really look at it may seem less stupid.
This is how I think about it let's say you're debating a subject. The point of said debate is to get the opposing debating side to see things your way; eventually turning them to your side if possible. If you and this secondary party are trying to get the other side to listen ,s it were, is it even possible to win?
What are your thoughts on this matter?

You've got debate confused with rhetoric. The purpose of a debate is to reach consensus, and rhetoric is the tool employed by all parties. Optimally, the party with the weaker rhetoric will be swayed to the opinion of the party with the stronger, but in practice, you're right, a lot of people value their opinions more than their welfare.

 

[walls of cetepedes]

Without debate, disagreement dissolves into violence.

but more than a few debates have opened up into violence.

Yes, but more than a lot have solved a matter peacefully.

 

[cowbell40]

Debate is always a preferable alternative to an argument.

But yeah, in most debates at my school (like ones around the lunch table amongst peers) the goal is to persuade the people around you more than the opponent, who, in all likelihood, is set on his opinion.

 

[esperandote]

to listen what the other side has to say and viceversa

 

[Merteg]

I've won numerous debates.

That fact that you think debates are impossible to win says more about you than about debates.

 

[Symplify]

Debate doesn't have to end in one side conceding, the argument itself can be fruitful in producing new perspectives and in understanding perspectives.

 

[Skutch]

The best debates are the ones free of prejudice and emotional investment. If you're too convinced of the rightness of your cause/side and you're not willing to even consider the reasoning of the opposing viewpoint, all you're really doing is having a polite argument.