People can change, but they have to be in the right place in their lives. Real change is generally generated more from emotion than reason. To be really powerful reason should be linked to emotion.

Unless you enjoy confrontation, I would ask what are you getting out of it. I feel there has to be space on both sides to hear each others' viewpoints, and even then you may just agree to disagree. But if your goal is to change someone's mind, to me that's a set-up for disappointment.

I'm convinced it has to come down to an either/or choice which those who argue the point say there is no compromise in that so there will never be an either/or choice.

It's beneficial... All the debates will have zero effect in the short term. But long term it helps in shaping the society. So never stop debating.

The pissing thing.

I think you have to actively listen, try to understand their position, how they came to that position and have a certain amount of respect for that. All our life experiences have lead us to be the people we are today. I think sometimes we alienate or invalidate people because their reality differs from our own. Try to find understand, find common ground and branch out from there. I think often it's just a matter of opening their mind to things. Change generally doesn't happen overnight.

It's my experience that people don't want to learn from you if they disagree with you generally. About 5 min. in you get a real feel for whether someone is willing to change their mind. I'll argue anyway because some people are just stubborn, and I hold out hope for them. But it becomes very apparent when someone doesnt care about the truth. At that point, there's nothing you can do

I think yo aleady know the answer. Unfortunitly we are left to hoplessly diagree

• Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying.
• Try using questions to inflict cognitive dissonance.
• You will have to be slick and nonconfrontational as if you are trying to understand their position more clearly by asking questions. The questions must be designed to elicit conflicting ideas held by your pigeon. ?

I have successfully enlightened 2 strangers on different political issues. I find that listening to what they think the issue is about, affirming that you understand their point of view, and then peacefully speaking facts that they have perhaps never heard before works pretty well. In one instance, I was speaking with a white make in his mid forties who felt that if he could dig ditches as a youth and make something of himself then everyone should be able to do the same. I praised him for his hard work ethic and quietly pointed out that he is a white male from NJ where there are plenty of job opportunities as we are between NY and Philly, yada, yada. I also asked him if he thought that a black man from Alabama or a family living in a small industrial town where the industry has left had the same opportunities as he did? He agreed that they probably did not. At the end of the conversation, he understood that he cannot take his east coast white guy experience and rubber stamp it across the country. He told me he'd never thought of it that way before. Sometimes you just have to listen and ask leading questions in order to get through to people rather than just preach.

You will never change the mind of a religious or political "true believer." Don't even try. The best that one can do is to marginalize the person, discouage them from acting on their political beliefs. Also if that peson with a differing view is a part of a cohesive group that believes similarly, the person will stay with the views of the group through thick and thin -- no matter how far off base those views may be.

The average human is not only a dullard, they are also handicaped by emotion. An emotional person cannot seem to tell the difference between what he/she feels and logic to the contrary. In an post-secondary environment, you may find some who will change their minds/amend their posistions with confronted with logic and data but to disagree with someone's point of view in other venues invites fisticuffs. You expect a whole lot from "talking monkeys".

In my opinion, one can only present verifialbe evidence, facts and data to support one's opinions and beliefs. The rest is up to other individuals to accept or reject what you have presented. There is little else one can do.

I've heard that personalising a side of an issue (such as pointing out someone they know who has had an abortion) has met with mild success. It's not entirely reliable, though.

I consider such debates to be pissing into the wind, but that's only because I couldn't convince a bird to fly, much less get a person to change their opinion.