NationStates Jolt Archive

I have once, but I debate for fun, I don't expect people to be converted to my opinion. (Even if it is my goal.)

I do think that Internet debates are probably the best way to debate as you can back up what you say with a source.

However it seems that I see people admit they are wrong much more in an open debate then in a forum debate. Some people on this forum i could never imagine in a million years admit they are wrong. But i have a feeling people do all the time to themselves, but leave the thread and not mention anything about them being wrong.

Anyway this poll is to find out if it is true or not. Even though if what i say is true, then people will not admit it in the poll, hmmm i should have thought this one through.

Have you ever admitted you're wrong in a forum debate?
Occasionally, but it's usually when I misremembered a fact, so I just find a different one that supports my argument (I don't base a belief on a single piece of evidence, so it's not usually that difficult to find another).

ive admitted ive been wrong, but opinons havent changed on much

I love being wrong about something around here. It's hilarious. Gets you a lot of "No, you fuckin' moron" messages.

I try to learn the actual truth about things. It does get hard sometimes to admit I'm wrong. I usually just disappear and say, "Fuck, I was wrong."

ive made mistakes or been misinformed from time to time (as in relying on an incorrect source) but i am NEVER wrong on my basic opinion of any topic i bother to post about.

if i make a mistake or am misunderstood i try to apologize for my error. sometimes i just let it go by if no one notices

Misremembered facts, misinterpreted posts, lingering vestiges of indoctrination passing as facts in my mind -- yeah, I've been wrong and admitted it. I wouldn't trust anyone who didn't...hence my distrust of politicians, lawyers and psychologists.

I usually just disappear and say, "Fuck, I was wrong."

Lol, yes thats exactly the sort of thing I am talking about!

Yup.

Sometimes when Devil's Advocating, eventually I'll come clean, but that's not so much admitting you're wrong as admitting you were playing.

Other times someone has posted something and it's made me reevaluate my views on something, or someone has posted something about a topic I didn't really understand but was debating anyway, and I've realised I was wrong and admitted it.

LOL some people just can't handle being wrong. On a mental level, I don't think they can compensate for the mental crush of a philosophical 180.

I'm one of them sometimes. But I have admitted being wrong on occasion. For instance, when people are using definitions for terms that are downright fabricated, but hey, if they're all using it then who am I to argue? Or, in a case when I am actually wrong, I tend to say things like, "You know, you might be right... K, I gotta go to work now." Granted, it's 2:00AM, but they never notice.

Misremembered facts, misinterpreted posts, lingering vestiges of indoctrination passing as facts in my mind -- yeah, I've been wrong and admitted it. I wouldn't trust anyone who didn't...hence my distrust of politicians, lawyers and psychologists.

Lawyers admit they were wrong, just not during court. The rest, I'll agree with. Although politicians do change their minds all the time. They just refuse to acknowledge it because we won't vote for them if they do. That's seems more a condemnation of the people than the politician.

Lol, yes thats exactly the sort of thing I am talking about!
Basically, it depends on whether I want to continue talking in the thread or not. If I do, I'll admit I'm wrong and continue either arguing or thinking it out. If I don't: Bye-Bye...

LOL some people just can't handle being wrong. On a mental level, I don't think they can compensate for the mental crush of a philosophical 180.
People have got to lighten up. Sometimes our opinions are simply wrong. I've changed my mind several times due to NS.

There have been a few times that I realised I was in over my head, and had to leave the conversation. In the one about all humans being bisexuals, I started talking about ancient Greece, based on whay I had seen in a documentary about the olympics. Apparently, Baquetten didn't quite agree with my understanding of the subject matter, and started lecturing me on the complexities of Pedagogy. I eventually gave up by saying, "I'm not making this up; maybe my source was innaccurate, but I stand by the idea that the doc. I saw presented ideas about bisexuality, not pedagogy, etc." There have also been a few times when I got into debates that became way too personal (the major ones being the one about pedophilia, and the one in which I attempted to suggest that fear was the major driving force in our lives), and I had to leave. Each time, however, I left a long messaging arguing that I stood by my beliefs, but also saying that I didn't feel I was making any progress in spreading understanding about them. After those times, I usually end up curling up in bed and crying for a while, since I feel so sick about starting the arguments in the first place.
So, basically, to answer your question in a more clear sense, I haven't ever admitted defeat on any of my core beliefs (equality, atheism, etc.), but I have admitted to getting certain technicalities wrong, and to engaging in debates that I wasn't prepared for, in any way.

Basically, it depends on whether I want to continue talking in the thread or not. If I do, I'll admit I'm wrong and continue either arguing or thinking it out. If I don't: Bye-Bye...

If i was wrong about a major subject, i just could not admit i was wrong on this forum. I fear i would not be taken seriously anymore.

If i was wrong about a major subject, i just could not admit i was wrong on this forum. I fear i would not be taken seriously anymore.
I think everyone feels that way but it usually never plays out that way. Everyone is used to people having really bizarre ideas that are just... wrong. I think people are much more understanding especially if you explain why you felt how you did, how you realized it was wrong either in whole or in part and that you've added to the conversation. Sometimes being wrong can shed a new light on a subject and everybody appreciates that.

I don't know if I made sense or not... and I may be wrong.

I think everyone feels that way but it usually never plays out that way. Everyone is used to people having really bizarre ideas that are just... wrong. I think people are much more understanding especially if you explain why you felt how you did, how you realized it was wrong either in whole or in part and that you've added to the conversation. Sometimes being wrong can shed a new light on a subject and everybody appreciates that.

I don't know if I made sense or not... and I may be wrong.

I guess that makes sence... At least it shows you are open minded if you admit you are wrong.

Yup.

I've yet to encounter any facts that contradict the validity of my core beliefs, and my opinions are generally formed from my personal philisophical outlook on life that I know few others could or would follow (in fact, the closest person I've ever encountered is probably Fass, of all people), so I don't mind if others think they're wrong. I just think they're wrong right back.

Either way, I'm willing to admit a mistake if it was genuinely a mistake. I'm not willing to admit that my opinions or core beliefs are wrong without significant and justified reasoning.

You're missing an option...

"If I found out I'm wrong, I'd just stop posting (run away) rather than admit I'm wrong"

Lawyers admit they were wrong, just not during court. The rest, I'll agree with. Although politicians do change their minds all the time. They just refuse to acknowledge it because we won't vote for them if they do. That's seems more a condemnation of the people than the politician.
Well said. I was wrong about lawyers.

See how easy it is, folks!:)

You're missing an option...

"If I found out I'm wrong, I'd just stop posting (run away) rather than admit I'm wrong"

That's basicly the second option.

I have admitted I am wrong, because I was.

Nope, never. I'm a coward, and a stubborn one at that. Bad mix people!

Yes, often. As well as conceded that I could not think of convincing arguments against the others opinion, even though I did not agree with it.

Once or twice, but rarely, and usually about minor things. Once, on these forums, I was completely wrong on a theoretical point that I argued rather forcefully, but considering that I didn't realize the fact until reconsidering the issue several months later, there was no real opportunity to admit it.

Didn't you ask this question about 2 months ago?

I've admitted I'm wrong in a forum debate but not on NS general. I actually have changed my core beliefs due to the computer. Everyone that I used (I'm talking when I was 11, 12) to go to to help me shape my opinions and explain how things worked were very, very conservative and Christian. I was for gay marriage but very anti-abortion and the rest of my former opinions embaress and shame me so I'm not going to get into them. But not anymore in the least.

I will admit to being wrong only as a tactic to distract my opponent.:D

I have admitted being wrong in a forum debate a couple of times, but never on NS general yet.

I have a few times, admitted that I was working with a poor assumption and once that I was mistaken, and a few times that I was unable to prove my point well enough to debate it and conceeded.