Debating is a game.
Debating is not the pursuit of truth.
You pursue truth by living life, taking action, taking risks, observing results, verifying your models, taking more action, taking more risks. This is how the truth is revealed to you. You live it and you pay for it.
Debating is not the pursuit of truth — it’s just a game.
It’s a stupid game in which the outcome is determined by various extraneous forces, neither of which is interested in reality
Sometimes the outcome is decided by the observers/public, sometimes by voters, sometimes by judges, sometimes by your in-group, sometimes by you yourself (wanting to congratulate yourself on your vehement defence of the truth and your mental and moral superiority)
Thus it’s the game motivated by an outcome which has nothing to do with reality — and everything to do with some stupid consensus. You win debate and all you gain is approval of some group — and you get not an inch closer to the truth — and there is nothing REAL that you gain from it either.
There is nothing REAL that you gain from it either: Your “wise words” didn’t cure cancer, didn’t solve the global warming (or lack thereof, I don’t care), didn’t help the oppressed (or not-oppressed), didn’t further the collective consciousness. They didn’t even motivate no one — because motivation is not some cheap words.
Only action matters.
It thus figures that debates are a waste of time. Only it’s worse. Debates will corrupt your judgement and intelligence and understanding by warping your perception of reality to suit the audience in front of which you’re debating.
(It’s not dissimilar to what social media and having an “audience” there does to you — training you like a dog to think the same way as they do — as they reward you with LIKES and you entertain them with their own bullshit)
Thus the better you are at debating the greater moron you become.
You also learn all kind of rhetorical devices and red herrings and clever wording tricks and also all kinds of social tricks and clever sounding nonsense and fake refutations — all so that you can appear more right — and thus never ever have to be actually right
And then you become an even greater moron — for the more your appearance does the talking for you — the less you need actual arguments.
…although like I said: your arguments were worthless to begin with.
Your arguments can be entirely “intelligent” and “logical” — but it’s irrelevant if they are founded on the untruth
And they are. Because you win debates by appearing to the group. And the group cares about consensus — instead of truth. And it cares about status quo — instead of truth. Thus they corrupt you with their collective ignorance and biases and beliefs. And you cater to this nonsense in order to win the debate. And you use your precious intelligence to justify why that untruth is in fact true — while ignoring evidence against it — because that would be counter productive, right?
Should you never argue — and never watch others argue?
Well:
In your relationships?
you should set clear rules — then keep them. There will be some improving on those rules — but there ought to not be too many arguments. There’s nothing to argue — there’s what YOU WANT and what the other side wants. That’s that.
For fun and pursuit of truth?
If you have an intelligent and open-minded person in front of you then you should absolutely seek to unravel the truth together
In order to convince someone that they’re wrong? In order to convince more people to what is right?
You can do this of course, no subject is below you , you can learn to convey the truth better, and maybe, just maybe, make someone’s life a little better
But it quickly becomes a problem when the outcome (of the debate, argument) actually matters to you
It means that you have something to gain from those who don’t understand your truths (or THE truth)
What are you doing with those that don’t share your values and don’t comprehend your truths?
You’re wasting time to begin with. You should be around people at your level — or higher. Not debating morons.
They will drag you down — just like i described
And watching debates and others argue?
Well of course you can do this for entertainment. There will be statements made — and 99.9% of them will have no proof attached to them, and 99% of them will likely be unprovable in the first place — therefore pointless
You can nevertheless enjoy this entertaining spectacle out of your own curiosity.
Just don’t take it seriously. Never take anything said or written or thought too seriously. Action is what matters. What you did today, in your everyday life, is what matters
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