When I don’t have internet access I tend to halt some debates when it seems clear that everyone involved is making claims that should be justified by science but no one involved knows the science. A lot of times I just say “Neither of us knows what we’re talking about. Let’s change the subject.” That seems reasonable to me and usually everyone immediately recognizes that they have been bullshitting for the last 5 minutes.
This sort of thing is actually common in professional philosophy, when done from the armchair. (“Well, that’s an empirical question”) Discovering that X can be verified empirically, where both sides of the disagreement depend upon X, tends to end the discussion. (Compare “A solution exists” jokes).
An aside: many people here assume that attempts to cut off debate stem from a desire to protect a meme—but there are at least two other motivations:
Time constraints.
Distaste for tone (e.g. if the opposite party is growing aggressive in their comments).
When I don’t have internet access I tend to halt some debates when it seems clear that everyone involved is making claims that should be justified by science but no one involved knows the science. A lot of times I just say “Neither of us knows what we’re talking about. Let’s change the subject.” That seems reasonable to me and usually everyone immediately recognizes that they have been bullshitting for the last 5 minutes.
This sort of thing is actually common in professional philosophy, when done from the armchair. (“Well, that’s an empirical question”) Discovering that X can be verified empirically, where both sides of the disagreement depend upon X, tends to end the discussion. (Compare “A solution exists” jokes).