Debating Debates., What's the point of them? Rating Options

[FizzyMilk]

I just wanted to ask the question, What's the point of a debate?
and I have a feeling that a whole debate is going to happen because I asked this...and it IS in the debate forum...hmmm.

SO, to my point, debates really don't get anyone anywhere now do they?
Okay, sure, you got your point across, so what? 90% of the time the other person isn't going to eventually agree with you and side with you now.

We all have our beliefs.
Mine may be different than yours, but what's the point of debating about it if we don't accomplish anything from it?

I mean, I always see Abortion, Gay Marriage, and God Debates. those are the three most popular ones. I just don't see the point of hopping in one of those debates and throwing my Opinion in other people's faces. The debate is always going to end the same way, with one side believing it's right, and the other believing it is wrong.

I'm pro-choice, and I believe in same sex marriage, and I'm an atheist, but I'm not going to rub my opinions in peoples faces about it, and I think that's all that a debate does. It just pisses people off.

[FizzyMilk]

what I was trying to say, THEY think they are right. We shouldn't use the words "right" and "wrong" because we all have different opinions on what is and what isn't.

and saying 2+2=6 IS incorrect because 2+2=4, that's common knowledge, and is a fact. We're talking about Opinions, not facts.

[brooklyneast05]

what I was trying to say, THEY think they are right. We shouldn't use the words "right" and "wrong" because we all have different opinions on what is and what isn't.

and saying 2+2=6 IS incorrect because 2+2=4, that's common knowledge, and is a fact. We're talking about Opinions, not facts.

but debating these issues isn't about making everyone think the exact same thing. it's not as if the only way for a debate to have ever been productive is if every single person in the world believed something was right. of course some people will be too stupid to ever understand. people having the opinion they are right though doesn't mean that they can't be wrong still. something like civil rights isn't an opinion in the US. it's our constitution. it is fact in the context of our country and the function of our society.

like i said, it's the context. sitting here and debating about god might be more "pointless" in one context than another. every debate about god is not about opinion. separation of church and state isn't opinion. the country we live in establishes it as a fact, so we can debate it terms of that.

apart from all the reasons debates have been valuable on a big scale (civil rights, our legal system, the running of our government etc). do you really see no value in debating for intellectual reasons? you don't think there is any value in the exchanging of ideas? you don't think it's valuable to hear anyone's opinion besides the one you already have? how exactly did you come to hold the beliefs you have? did you magically just all the sudden have an opinion or did you look at two sides and pick one?