perhaps politics and religion are best debated in person? The relative anonymity of the internet seem to generate a race to the bottom...
Ummm...no. It's not.
why not? Do you feel online posting with pseudonames promotes healthy debate?
If you're thinking more of personal conduct being the limiting factor in debate I would agree that many (myself included) probably don't possess the self-control skills needed for such.
Pseudonames? no...not helpful. But that's also why I don't use one. I use my name as my username in every forum I participate in. I've had a couple of conversations at work lately that just didn't go well. Everyone (probably myself included) just seems so polarized today that there is little point in debating because nobody is going to change their position. For instance, I had a recent debate with someone I consider extremely intellectual who believes Obama is subversively trying to consume the supply of ammunition in order to control guns so they can take over an unarmed citizenship. I tried to point out that Obama only has a few years left in office so how would he gain from such a slow and obvious move (if that were the case) among several other inconsistencies with the conspiracy theory. Anyway, I digress...it ended with us both feeling differently about the other person and it impacted the personal relationship. I just try to avoid it anymore.
