1) The goal of discussion isn't to bring everyone in the room to the same opinion... it is to obtain an awareness that is bigger than personal opinion, one based on the thinking of many minds. There is value in that for anyone who wants it.

2) Good discussion is an art form. In order to obtain it there must be "parliamentary rules" that make it possible for people to express their ideas without being punished.

3) All the rules of discussion revolve around preserving the dignity of everyone in the discussion. If you can accomplish that, you can have conversations on any topic without fighting.

4) Without that agreed upon respect what happens is that people seek to "win" by mocking anyone who disagrees with them. Worst case scenario is when mocking degenerates to personal attacks.

5) In the days of the open forums of discussion the ancients really understood the art of debate. They identified and catalogued most (if not all) of the false arguments and explained why they are false. To this crowd it was generally accepted that the person with the weakest argument would be the first to resort to fallacious reasoning or personal attacks. To them such an approach was automatically interpreted as an implied defeat.

My hat is off To all those who have tried to observe the parliamentary rules of discussion. That speaks well of your open-mindedness and respect for people, as well as your respect for clarity in communication.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0