While somebody might not engage in debate with the goal of gaining status, they can do it with the goal of convincing (whether it be through rationally argued explaining or otherwise), i.e. with the goal of spreading their ideas. That seems to be a very, very powerful motivation in the modern psyche. People are ready to pay considerable sums to obtain the rights of leaving comments on such or such media websites etc. I am always struck by the quasi-Darwinian aspect of this. A lot of us, it seems, seek to spread their ideas just like Darwin says we seek to spread our genes. Ideological Darwinism I would call it—if the name was not already taken for something else.
While somebody might not engage in debate with the goal of gaining status, they can do it with the goal of convincing (whether it be through rationally argued explaining or otherwise), i.e. with the goal of spreading their ideas. That seems to be a very, very powerful motivation in the modern psyche. People are ready to pay considerable sums to obtain the rights of leaving comments on such or such media websites etc. I am always struck by the quasi-Darwinian aspect of this. A lot of us, it seems, seek to spread their ideas just like Darwin says we seek to spread our genes. Ideological Darwinism I would call it—if the name was not already taken for something else.