I'm sure you've encountered the type of talking point, especially in political discourse, where the rebuttal is commonly available and you can more or less gues

I'm sure you've encountered the type of talking point, especially in political discourse, where the rebuttal is commonly available and you can more or less guess what the rebuttal to the rebuttal is, and what comes after that, until it's reduced to the same points you've seen before. Every time diversity issues in Silicon Valley come up on HN, there are at least several of those in the thread. Those discussions are almost always polarizing, even for bystanders. If the goal is to be helpful and to convince bystanders, then I think it's much more productive to find and engage with the comments where people are asking thoughtful questions, engaging healthily, or giving an overview of the common points made on the topic. Or just upvote those for visibility instead.