# Admitting When You Are Wrong in Great Debates **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460 "2019-09-18T21:17:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/1 "2019-09-18T21:17:41Z")
I’ve seen many, many people twist themselves into pretzels when they are called out on something in Great Debates, are shown to be wrong, but then simply won’t admit it. If you are one of these people, wouldn’t it be easier to just say you were wrong and move on? Do you not insult your own intelligence when you realize the other person(s) were right but can’t come out and say it? Is it not more humiliating in your own mind not to do so, and then continue on with some pathetic attempt to save face? I realize that asking this question in this manner may result in few people who have ever found themselves in this position answering it honestly, because that would require them to do what they couldn’t do in the Great Debate thread in the first place. Namely, that doing so would be an admission that they were once _ **WRONG!** _, and we can’t admit that, now can we? Being that this thread will likely get no responses (and I jest here) because I do not hope this is the case and don’t think it will be, I hereby offer it a service to the Dope. Whenever you find yourself in such a situation, and the other person won’t come clean, just link back to this thread, and your point will be clear. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/2 "2019-09-18T21:25:00Z")
I always thought that the standard way to admit error was to drop the subject and never speak if it again, abandoning the entire thread if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/3 "2019-09-18T21:31:08Z")
Every single time I find out that I am wrong I will say “I was wrong”. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/4 "2019-09-18T21:33:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Every single time I find out that I am wrong I will say “I was wrong”. My response is usually more along the lines of “details, schmeetails. I’m still right about everything else and you failed to counter my main point anyway.” I’m charming like that. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/5 "2019-09-18T21:41:28Z")
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/6 "2019-09-18T22:04:35Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Whenever you find yourself in such a situation, and the other person won’t come clean, just link back to this thread, and your point will be clear. 🙂 Please don’t. I’ve gotten in trouble for that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/7 "2019-09-18T22:40:22Z")
I have long argued that\*\* Great Debates\*\* should be renamed **The Argument Sketch From Monty Python** for the very reason the OP posits. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/8 "2019-09-18T22:47:40Z")
Today I happened to read through 2 pages of a thread in GD about guns and the media, started by DrDickhead and with a steaming turd by resident troll Hurricanedickhead thrown in as standard. The amount of utter bollocks I read in just 2 pages was incredible, and further cemented my opinion that this board is just troll central. There is no way that anybody writes those posts, writes those words without realising just how fucking stupid they really are. Admit they are wrong? Most of those cunts know full well they are wrong, they knew it before they hit the submit reply button. So why would they admit to being wrong when being right isn’t why they are here in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/9 "2019-09-18T22:52:14Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Please don’t. I’ve gotten in trouble for that sort of thing. Yeah, I thought about this on the way home. Not a good idea, because questioning someone’s honesty in GD is verboten. I retract this idea. It was wrong. And thanks for bringing it up and reminding me so I could come here and admit that I was, you know, wrong. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/10 "2019-09-18T22:53:18Z")
Oh, and for the record, I’ve been guilty to some degree of this, being reluctant to admit I said something incorrect, but it was way in the past and for many years I’ve tried to live by the OP concept. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/11 "2019-09-19T01:07:37Z")
Great example of this (in the pit but no doubt said everywhere else)i had recently was that “Donald Trump said Nazis were very fine people!” No, no he didn’t. No, he didn’t even imply it. You can post the entire transcript of the statement where he never says it and people will STILL say he said it, being completely wrong and knowing it. People who like to talk politics are tribal, and just like their favorite politicians it’s all about twisting and bending and lying. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/12 "2019-09-19T01:52:43Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I have long argued that\*\* Great Debates\*\* should be renamed **The Argument Sketch From Monty Python** for the very reason the OP posits. No it shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/13 "2019-09-19T02:02:36Z")
Wait, you can do that? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/14 "2019-09-19T02:20:21Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > Great example of this (in the pit but no doubt said everywhere else)i had recently was that “Donald Trump said Nazis were very fine people!” > > No, no he didn’t. No, he didn’t even imply it. You can post the entire transcript of the statement where he never says it and people will STILL say he said it, being completely wrong and knowing it. > > People who like to talk politics are tribal, and just like their favorite politicians it’s all about twisting and bending and lying. Bullshit. Trump specifically said “There are fine people on both sides”. One of the sides he was referring to is neo-Nazis. You know what neo-Nazis are? They’re Nazis, you nitwit. But, of course, you’re no stranger to lying. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/15 "2019-09-19T03:46:24Z")
No married man will survive very long by insisting that he is NEVER wrong. Sixty plus years of experience are behind that statement. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/16 "2019-09-19T03:52:03Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Bullshit. Trump specifically said “There are fine people on both sides”. One of the sides he was referring to is neo-Nazis. You know what neo-Nazis are? They’re Nazis, you nitwit. > > But, of course, you’re no stranger to lying. Aaaaaaaand exhibit A ^ You say this knowing that in the very same statement, 2 or three sentences after this, he specifically says that he’s not talking about neo-Nazis, yet you mischaracterize his statement intentionally. If you watch/read the statement in full context it’s clear he’s saying that there were people there that were not neo Nazis and were protesting the removal of the statue, unaffiliated with them. He never said what you say he said and he didn’t even imply it. The only legitimate argument you can make is that it was a bumbling, moronic statement but to think and claim that he said something that he didn’t is just embarrassing. Trump Didn’t Call Neo-Nazis ‘Fine People.’ Here’s Proof. [https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/03/21/trump\_didnt\_call\_neo-nazis\_fine\_people\_heres\_proof\_139815.html](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/03/21/trump_didnt_call_neo-nazis_fine_people_heres_proof_139815.html) > [@](#): > > News anchors and pundits have repeated lies about Donald Trump and race so often that some of these narratives seem true, even to Americans who embrace the fruits of the president’s policies. The most pernicious and pervasive of these lies is the “Charlottesville Hoax,” the fake-news fabrication that he described the neo-Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017 as “fine people.” > > Just last week I exposed this falsehood, yet again, when CNN contributor Keith Boykin falsely stated, “When violent people were marching with tiki torches in Charlottesville, the president said they were ‘very fine people.’” When I objected and detailed that Trump’s “fine people on both sides” observation clearly related to those on both sides of the Confederate monument debate, and specifically excluded the violent supremacists, anchor Erin Burnett interjected, “He [Trump] didn’t say it was on the monument debate at all. No, they didn’t even try to use that defense. It’s a good one, but no one’s even tried to use it, so you just used it now.” > > My colleagues seem prepared to dispute our own network’s correct contemporaneous reporting and the very clear transcripts of the now-infamous Trump Tower presser on the tragic events of Charlottesville. Here are the unambiguous actual words of President Trump: > > “Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group – excuse me, excuse me, I saw the same pictures you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.” > After another question at that press conference, Trump became even more explicit: > > “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.” ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/17 "2019-09-19T07:23:41Z")
See what I mean? Fucking troll central. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/18 "2019-09-19T07:36:29Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > See what I mean? Fucking troll central. Translation: “Boo hoo the bad man won’t let me lie” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/19 "2019-09-19T08:40:53Z")
Oh huzzah, another episode of the **Annoyed** Show (with special guest star Morey Amsterdam). ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460/20 "2019-09-19T09:14:46Z")
I am no fan of Donald Trump, the Republican Party, or the right-wing of this board. But if this: “Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group – excuse me, excuse me, I saw the same pictures you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.” is what Donald Trump said, then just on the basis of that I would be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. in other words I don’t think he believes/said that neo-Nazis are very fine people and it is unfair to state that he did say or imply that. I would genuinely like to be shown where I am wrong and if so I will happily admit such :). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/admitting-when-you-are-wrong-in-great-debates/840460.md?page=2)