That's really not what I'm trying to say at all. If I had to condense it down to one sentence it would be: "if there's a difference in opinion between two reasonable people, it's probably because you've had different experiences; you'll have a more productive discussion by finding out what they are than simply stating your opinions".
> It strikes me as exceedingly dishonest to pretend that you're genuinely interested in someone's opinion if you already know you strongly disagree with it, and it's by no means a requirement to lack an opinion to have a respectful debate. Telling someone that you believe they're wrong is not an insult.
If you're not interested in somebody's opinion, what value could there possibly be in having a discussion with them?
Not every comment on the Internet is an invitation to discussion, and the discussion is not exclusively between two people. A lot of comments are just responses about why someone disagrees or agrees with what was just said, which is allowed.
It strikes me as exceedingly dishonest to pretend that you're genuinely interested in someone's opinion if you already know you strongly disagree with it, and it's by no means a requirement to lack an opinion to have a respectful debate. Telling someone that you believe they're wrong is not an insult.
People have subjective opinions and experiences, this does not necessarily make their statements true. This should be obvious and I don't see why it's the sender's responsibility to preface everything they say with that fact to avoid stepping on the toes of whoever reads it. Opinions don't kill debate, it furthers it.