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Much the same as the political discussions that take place here. No matter how cogent you feel your argument is, you won’t change any minds. But you’ll feel a lot better

To be sure, there are those that will never reflect upon their beliefs. "Don't confuse me with the facts!" However, I respectfully disagree that all political discourse is useless. One of the best tools to help people self reflect and question their assumptions is simply asking questions. It also helps the questioner. In the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the habits is "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." It is worth the effort, in my humble opinion.

There are some countries that have mandatory military service. If I were king, emperor, etc., I would dictact mandatory participation in a debate team. I look back on my time a million years ago in our debate team and just marvel at how much it has helped me in life. We were required to argue one side of an issue. And then the two teams would swap sides and argue the other side.

I guess we could just ask people to listen to Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, eh?