I used to habitually leave debates more sure of my position than when I went in---yet this can't possibly be right, unless my opposition were so inept as to argue against their own position.
This isn't quite right - for example, the more I search and find only bad arguments against cryonics, the more evidence I have that the good arguments just aren't out there.
This isn't quite right - for example, the more I search and find only bad arguments against cryonics, the more evidence I have that the good arguments just aren't out there.
If all you did was argue with stupid people you would become erroneously self-confident. Also, two people who argued and didn't convert would both walk away feeling better about their own positions. Something seems wrong here. What am I missing? Doesn't this only make sense of there was some sort of weight attached to the argument your opponent used that was detached during the argument?
Followup to: The Most Important Thing You Learned
What's the most frequently useful thing you've learned on OB - not the most memorable or most valuable, but the thing you use most often? What influences your behavior, factors in more than one decision? Please give a concrete example if you can. This isn't limited to archetypally "mundane" activities: if your daily life involves difficult research or arguing with philosophers, go ahead and describe that too.