Discussing politics and other contentious sunjects online feels to me like it’s counterproductive these days and even though I try not to get suckered in, I often can’t help myself. Usually though I just end up feeling frustrated and sometimes angry at the other person either missing my points or refusing to accept them.
Thinking back to conversations I’ve had here and previously on Reddit, not only can I not remember an example of me “winning” the discussion and the other person changing their mind or conceding the point, I also cannot think of a time where my mind was changed either.
So have you ever begun a discussion online with someone with a different view point to yours and either you, or they, changed the others mind?
Yes. I have had my own changed as well.
In my encounters it’s more often that a counter argument to what I say is not wrong either. When a morsel of nuance can be introduced, we can understand each others’ argument without necessarily having anyone flip around their opinion to the opposite.
However I have tried sometimes to no avail, if there’s no progress after around 3 back-and-forths I end the conversation.
If you want some advice to increase your success in getting people to consider, try this: Start with the part you agree or share with the other person’s perspective. Try for a “Yes… and…” if possible, or “Yes… but…” if you can’t. After the and/but, that’s where you can go into the difference in opinion you have.