Jedi temple, Or Battle zone

A good rule of thumb for a sensible debate would be:
"I believe I'm right and this is why".
"But I believe what I'm right and this is why"
etc etc

But what sometimes happens is this:
"I believe I'm right and this is why"
"Well I believe you're wrong and your ideas are ridiculous"

If more time was given to representing our own opinions and explaining them than having them attacked and then trying to explain them, this sort of thread would not be necessary. However, we are all human and emotions can come into play sometimes. I try to remain civil and diplomatic as much as possible (even when under intense fire such as the Chat discussion on editing policy) but even then it's difficult to remain calm when being told "your ideas are stupid because I don't believe in them".

However, I would much rather have a debate than to have any discussions cut short or limited in an attempt to avoid disruption. As has been pointed out, if things get too personal or offensive, this is dealt with. As long as a certain amount of respect is shown to all parties, there's no reason why we can't debate a little more intensely from time to time.

If we all agreed to accept each other's viewpoints without taking the time to really listen or understand them, how would we learn as much?

Well, as Jon might put it (and I hope I can do justice to what you'e said in the past Hans!!!), every thesis meets it's antithesis, and the union of both is a synthesis, thus yielding a new thesis and antithesis, thus proliferating the cycle. Many of us, whether we admit it or not, become just a little threatened when our beliefs are challenged, as is quite natural. It's easy to say that we would never let these debates get out of hand, but they often do, and not just here at TOTJO. I think, rather than trying to deny human nature, we should accept that this happens, and make an effort to remember that we are all friends. Friends argue, and as long as no one is being directly insulted, we should allow healthy argument.

Desolous wrote:

Learn_To_Know wrote: This message was brought to you by the least offended and most humble person at this Temple...LTK.

MTFBWY!

(And for those of you that are unfamiliar with me, I was totally kidding about the least offended person part, haha.)

nuh uh! im WAY more humbler than you!

Exactly, haha.