I have noted the poverty of discussion elsewhere as part of a longer discussion about Christian behaviour. However, many people will not read long posts and will not concentrate on much more than a few pararaphs, so this post is short because the topic deserves an introductory blogpost of its own, if for no other reason that one can easily refer to it.

The commonest error in discussion is to go off-topic or to change the topic. This can be deliberate, as politicians do, or accidental. Many people will not stick to the topic in hand, often because they cannot answer a question or have no meaningful thoughts on it.

The result is that they speak at cross-purposes and the discussion goes round in circles and does not pursue the topic to a conclusion. GB News prides itself in having regular discussions between panel members with different views, but what presenters conclude was “a good discussion” is often not so, and listeners are unlikely to learn much from contributors talking over each other with even the occasional shouting match. Worse still, and more significant, failure to keep to the point is hardly likely to inform nor change people’s minds with the result that one will learn very little. Is this why so few commentators pass on useful information rather than their emotional opinions?

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16 Nov 2024: the difficulty of having national debate.