Simply put, demands for evidence where none is required derail conversations. By trying to re-orient the conversation toward a debate, you are stifling any kind

Simply put, demands for evidence where none is required derail conversations. By trying to re-orient the conversation toward a debate, you are stifling any kind of contemplative progress. Practically, debates of this style are not dialectical and do not pursue synthesis or truth per se. Look around HN at any hour of any day to see people continually conflate the two. Folks who employ this and related tactics do little more than stroke their superiority complex with logical gotchas.