| I submit it comes stems from the difficulty, and in some cases the inability, to separate factual statements from opinion. The most popular topics here are thin on fact and full of opinion. We may feel we have ample support for our opinions, but they remain just that.
Our opinions are so integral to our identity and personality, I can empathize with those who take their opinions being challenged personally. But in an internet debate forum, we aren't putting our credibility on trial. Most of us know next to nothing about each other save the opinions we express. Perhaps they're genuine, perhaps they're not. It's not a requirement of the forum that you present your authentic views on the topics. What we should be doing here is arguing our side of the debate as intelligently and with as much supporting evidence as we can muster while abiding by the forum rules and keeping our tempers in check. There are few topics that lend themselves to a "right or wrong" resolution. We should strive to defend our opinions better than the opposition can defend theirs. That doesn't mean either of us are right or wrong. It's more a matter of who can debate more effectively. |