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Tyrrell_McAllister comments on Is arguing worth it? If so, when and when not? Also, how do I become less arrogant? - Less Wrong
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Yes.
As I added in my reply to him, his reply did help me with other parts of his argument. But I needed more iterations of questions and clarifications before I could understand that particular phrase better.
This doesn't seem to me like wasted effort, though, because I expect that what he did clarify would have helped me to understand that particular phrase, had we continued to discuss it. So, while I can't explain that particular phrase better than I could before, I expect that I am closer to understanding it. Certainly, partial illumination of the argument surrounding a specific sentence is normally the preamble to full illumination of that specific sentence, if this full illumination ever happens.
That's generally consistent with my experience. As I alluded to at the start of this exchange, when I seek clarification of someone's position, it's unusual for the person to actually provide it. No matter how polite or respectful I am.
Which is why the idea of stating the other fellow's position clearly is actually of limited utility at best in practice. At least on the sort of topics I am interested in grappling with.