I wrote the earlier reply on my phone in the dark and perhaps did not express myself well
Sometimes I have the habit of responding quickly and thinking after, not a good habit I know
I do agree debating someone with different thoughts is fine and often a challenge, I do not have an issue with that at all, I find it fun, I learnt that from an uncle of mine in my late teens
He lived on a farm and on a Saturday he loved going to two nearby towns to a Pub/Restaurant in each town, one was one very popular with supporters of one of our Political parties, and the other popular with the other party, he would go to the first one which say supports Party A and love debating for Party B and then do the reverse in the other
No angst or heated discussions but open sharing of views and thoughts and he was such a good debater :)
So yes I do get what you mean discussing with someone perhaps bringing to them perspectives they may not have considered, and yes perhaps also having perspectives brought to your attention one may not have considered is a worthwhile adventure
these days sadly in many cases people are so strong on their ideas and can get aggressive if counter thoughts are raised, one has to be careful who one may have an open discussion with
What a great example and then also taken from life. I would have loved to meet your uncle :) thanks for this little insight into his habits.
To debate online, you probably always have to consider something like this as a positive sporting challenge to stay mentally stable. Those who engage in online arguments but feel neither the puff nor the humorous determination to conduct a debate according to unspoken rules (which we all know) can become victims of their own grimness and mistakenly blame the other person.
It is not impossible to counter very aggressive commentators in a way that changes the subject and shows a personal interest in them. Often aggressiveness is an expression of helplessness, but sometimes it is also a deliberate means used by, for example, matured personalities to test their opponent (just two out of many possibilities). Since you never really know, the tension is also the fun of having one. If not, it would probably be better to stay out of debating.
Have you ever succeeded in leading someone you perceive as an aggressor into a genuine conversation? That would be a good and interesting experience, wouldn't it?