“I disagree with X and took it to PMs” to avoid giving the impression that his assertion was unchallenged.
What would be the point of that. To convince the other guy to see his mistakes? That only works if the person you’re debating is well meaning and exceptionally rational.
Otherwise, the point of debating in public is so that observers can see for themselves who’s being rational.
Yeah but that kind of debating tends to massively incentivize techniques for sophistry, leads to long pointless debates that take up time and yield no new knowledge. Here on LW we aim higher than that, and that is why there are norms to try and prevent it.
What would be the point of that. To convince the other guy to see his mistakes? That only works if the person you’re debating is well meaning and exceptionally rational.
Otherwise, the point of debating in public is so that observers can see for themselves who’s being rational.
Yeah but that kind of debating tends to massively incentivize techniques for sophistry, leads to long pointless debates that take up time and yield no new knowledge. Here on LW we aim higher than that, and that is why there are norms to try and prevent it.