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>No, they don't. For that to work, this requires the proponents of bad ideas to respond to logic You're missing what's at stake here. It is emphatically not to

>No, they don't. For that to work, this requires the proponents of bad ideas to respond to logic You're missing what's at stake here. It is emphatically not to convince the speaker he is wrong. Often times they have ulterior motives at play that prevent them from recognizing or acknowledging that they were wrong. The point is to convince those who are on the fence or otherwise could be persuaded by the bad ideas. Seeing someone like Milo get pummeled in a debate does incredible damage to his brand and his ideas. It may do absolutely nothing to convince Milo he's wrong, but the ideas he's espousing now have resistance in the minds of potential followers. Give potential followers the mental tools to resist the appeal of these messages, and the ideas die out with the hardliners.

chetanahuja 10y ago
"Seeing someone like Milo get pummeled in a debate does incredible damage to his brand and his ideas." Internet trolls are not visiting universities to engage in vigorous intellectual debate in good faith. They're on campus to raise their profile and gain a patina of respectability. They are entitled to their free speech. They are not entitled to get access to large platforms to spread their message of hate.
vkou 10y ago
> Seeing someone like Milo get pummeled in a debate Milo doesn't host events so that he can be debated. He hosts these events so he can preach to the choir. It's not like he showed up to a meeting of the debate club - he's holding what is, essentially, a political rally. I repeat - they are not debates. They are lectures, speeches, whatever the hell you want to call them - but no part of them leave open the possibility that Milo will be proven wrong. You can't openly engage with someone who is not willing to listen to reason - or someone who is not willing to listen, at all. He doesn't care to stand up to public scrutiny, or discourse - only to have a megaphone.

chetanahuja 10y ago

"Seeing someone like Milo get pummeled in a debate does incredible damage to his brand and his ideas." Internet trolls are not visiting universities to engage in vigorous intellectual debate in good faith. They're on campus to raise their profile and gain a patina of respectability. They are entitled to their free speech. They are not entitled to get access to large platforms to spread their message of hate.

vkou 10y ago

> Seeing someone like Milo get pummeled in a debate Milo doesn't host events so that he can be debated. He hosts these events so he can preach to the choir. It's not like he showed up to a meeting of the debate club - he's holding what is, essentially, a political rally. I repeat - they are not debates. They are lectures, speeches, whatever the hell you want to call them - but no part of them leave open the possibility that Milo will be proven wrong. You can't openly engage with someone who is not willing to listen to reason - or someone who is not willing to listen, at all. He doesn't care to stand up to public scrutiny, or discourse - only to have a megaphone.