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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seebs" data-source="post: 6772871" data-attributes="member: 61529">This is not how persuasion works. I don't think anyone in this conversation has yet presented an argument that I find strong enough to be convinced that they are definitely right. You've posted quotes from lead devs, but your interpretation of those quotes is not necessarily the same as someone else's.Okay so taking a step back:Imagine that you are trying to give someone directions to a location. The first thing you'd do in order to accomplish this is to find out where they are coming from, because if you don't know that, you cannot give them instructions that will get them to the right location.In this conversation, it seems pretty clear to me that you guys (and I do mean both sides) do not understand each others' positions. And because of that, you are presenting arguments which would persuade someone who held some other position, but not someone who holds the position the people on the other side of the debate are actually trying to argue.If you really want to resolve this, there's a much simpler tactic you could use: Switch sides. Yes, really. If you each try to argue the other side's perspective, you will understand it better. If you can present their argument well enough that they think you are doing a good job, that will give you a much better understanding. Right now, I'm pretty sure that if you posted your understanding of the other side's argument, they wouldn't be convinced by it either, and vice versa.I don't think it's at all obvious that the question would have that effect.Okay, you are clearly missing something very fundamental about how persuasion works.The reason people are more persuaded when they get the answers to their questions than when you get the answers to yours isn't "because it was posted in response to them posting the question". It's because the question they asked is the one they think is relevant.Someone else asking a question you think is relevant is not going to persuade them, because they don't actually agree with your original analysis in the first place. I can't imagine any likely answer to that question persuading me of anything about this topic, because that question is irrelevant to how I'm thinking about the topic.This is cargo-cult persuasion. "When people get answers to the questions they ask, they are convinced. If I can force my opponent to ask my question, then when they get the answer they will be persuaded." That's not how it works at all!</blockquote>

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