It's now a pretty popular idea on places like Hacker News that conversations on controversial subjects are tire fires in which no minds are ever changed. I thin

It's now a pretty popular idea on places like Hacker News that conversations on controversial subjects are tire fires in which no minds are ever changed. I think this is both wrong and dangerous. Minds are never changed in the moment, of course. That's not how beliefs (or the stubborn and prideful humans who hold them) operate. But my mind is changed on important subjects all the time! And heated online discussions have played a large role in that. The belief that there's no point in talking about emotionally charged or controversial subjects says more about the rigidity of the person saying that than anything. But in this moment where everything you say online is an indictment of character, a set-in-stone reflection of who you are in your deepest soul, I'm starting to think it's just not worth it. I think that's a real loss.