throwme122

I wasn't expecting this thread to be a troll magnet but now it seems obvious.

Perhaps I shouldn't have given any examples, as it seems I have only drawn the attention of those who care about the examples and not my underlying point.

My example was a bad one. These discussion happen at all levels and dominate the discourse. Even if counter arguments are provided, in the end everybody loses.

Sometimes ignoring works, but not always if the extremist is a more able talker.

I believe what I'm getting at is how to avoid that unproductive ideas dominate the discussion. But not only unproductive, specially harmful ideas that freak everyone out and play into people's fears, robbing them from the opportunity to have a rational discussion.

That was a bad example. Discussing immigration is not my point.

Have you ever been in a discussion where someone is clearly the outlier and it's accepted beyond reasonable doubt that his ideas are extreme?

Another example, imagine you're discussing religion acceptance and a extremist say whoever doesn't follow his religion should die since their are infidels. How do you avoid that completely stupid idea from dominating everything?