I was browsing another message board last time, and found myself engaging in yet another debate about homosexuality and gay marriage. I argued with one person in particular about the philosophical aspects of the subject, paragraph after paragraph, for about three or four hours straight until he proclaimed that since he wasn't swaying anyone to his side, his time would be better spent sleeping, and ceased replying. I find it rather common for me to be debating with someone about an issue, but even after plethoras of text walls and hours of sleep gone, neither me or the person on the other side of the issue nudge one bit, and the conversation takes off from there. Then it is as if all the time and effort from both our parts to persuade the other were, in a way, completely wasted.
So this prompts me to ask- have you ever actually changed your or someone else's opinion on an issue through debating it?
I vote options 3 (the stubborn debater that I am) and 7.
I was trolling my boss's facebook with her cousin once about abortion. Great times. Ended the same way.