# Does anyone ever admit their position is wrong in Great Debates? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 6, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-admit-their-position-is-wrong-in-great-debates/825718 "2018-12-06T22:52:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 40
**Author:** ![Huey\_Freeman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/huey_freeman/32/251_2.png) [@Huey\_Freeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huey_Freeman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-admit-their-position-is-wrong-in-great-debates/825718/40 "2018-12-11T14:47:42Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Well, do they? More specifically, does anyone have any example of a doper changing an opinion that they have been arguing for over the course of many posts and lengthy discussions, as opposed to someone who almost immediately recognizes they were wrong? > > To save anyone the trouble who might be tempted to go find an example of this happening, let me save _you_ that trouble. > > No. :rolleyes::mad::smack:☹ I endorse this. You cannot change hearts and minds on social media. It’s a waste of time. For example, just this morning, I thought long and hard about responding to [this post](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21371404&postcount=134) with cites and all but after about 10-second reflection, I decided against it. Why waste time? What would be the fucking point? It is my belief that people post on social media sites (like SDMB) not to _debate_\* ideas _but as a place to seek gratification and to get_ validation\* of _their ideas_. This need for extrinsic validation has the tendency to turn what would be “great debates” into psychotherapy sessions or a priest’s confessional. I think it all comes from a place of loneliness and/or helplessness. The former type of loneliness where one would rather engage with strangers than the people they don’t know. It’s sad. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-admit-their-position-is-wrong-in-great-debates/825718)._