Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The goal of debating is to entertain yourself, and probably others, because it's a rare thing to ever change anybody's mind. If you're just getting started, here's a few debating tips:

• First, you need a point then support your point with some facts; personal anecdotes or authority help but you might get trumped by someone with more.

• Second; stay on a winning thread, meaning don't pursue points you've obvious lost. Follow multiple threads so that you don't fixate on just one; being too invested ruins your enjoyment; There's often two or three items under discussion in the same thread or even in the same post, but keep focused so you are only engaging one at a time. If you do want to take them all on, make bullet points so that each can be addressed individually.

• Third; keep your posts short; nobody's going to read a wall of text, and they will intentionally miss your most important point if it's a winner.

• And lastly, go ahead and get excited but post as if you're calm; practiced debaters can smell blood over the Internet.

It's tough to debate someone who thinks completely differently than you, so avoid them, but there are going to be people who are receptive to your point-of-view; take them through the steps of your argument, find where you first disagree and begin your debate from there. Chances are an open-minded person will see your logic, possibly admire it, and maybe continue further exploration at another time, because online debates can go on for months, years even. Watch out to only use an insult if you want return punches. Most of all, don't take it personally, or you lose.