Three Sides to Any Debate

[chris_gerrib]

I’ve been in a few controversial online debates recently, and something became apparent to me. For any debate topic, there are really three sides, or three groups of people, in the debate. Failure to recognize this fact results in a dysfunctional debate. I think the best way to explain this is to use an example

Comments

[jeff_duntemann]

Very well put. One purely rhetorical reservation I have is with the term "swinger," as it means a number of other things, and not always things that cast a person in a favorable light. Words do matter; Carol went on the Web some years ago to see what day spas did facials in the Scottsdale area, and we learned about the other definition of "facial." Yuukkkkkh.

As I've said recently on Contra, the edges aren't interested in debate at all; they're simply venting and have no desire whatsoever to persuade the other side or even the middlefolk. The way to deal with debates like this is to somehow gather the middlefolk together and go somewhere else so that the debates can usefully continue and the edges can act like asshats in peace. I'm not sure how to do this but there has to be a way.

[chris_gerrib]

The term "swingers" was an attempt at humor. I'll edit to make clearer.

I do remember the Contra "just venting" discussion; however the folks in these debates at least claimed to be trying to persuade.

[jetfx]

I don't think saying a debate has only three sides is much more useful than leaving it at two. Even then all we have is us, them and those who may join us. There may be a side in the debate that doesn't like either position, has a third (fourth, fifth, etc) position, are ambivalent about it all, and the side that doesn't like any position put in front of them. This is where the analogy of peas is limited, because there is only two possible positions with a wandering element.

Besides shades of grey, there's every colour under the rainbow between black and white.

[chris_gerrib]

True. My point was that those who only see black and white need to recognize at least one more color.