Its a question deserving of more in depth thought than has yet been expressed.
I think debate over issues is important.
I think all people have opinions, but seldom have most people given any real thought to their opinions, where they came from, and how well any one of their opinions fit with their other opinions in areas that may seem unconnected... and yet bear strongly upon each other.
Conservatives often seem like "in for a penny, in for a pound" and buy the entire conservative agenda hook line and sinker without any real thought. Vote for it, even...
And yet, you get them in a real discussion and you find that many of their opinions are not at all in alignment with conservative agendas.
I do wish debate over issues prompted far less knee jerk jerkiness.. and more actual ARGUMENT....
( no, not like you used to do with your sister/brother... argument as used in debate, in law, in science, in philosophy)
I think stating something, without supporting example, analogy or a line of reasoning is about as creditable as spitting.
And I think the heart of intellectual honesty and social cooperation is to be willing to entertain the notion that you might be wrong.
It is often hard, in the heat of debate, to admit that you are in error... or that your opponent has a good point.
But it is not uncommon for a person, in quiet reflection over days or months, to have their mind changed by a point well made and insightfully presented.
Most of what any of us currently believe started out as something someone else said... or a collection of things said by a collection of people.
It is not impossible for something someone else says to have the same effect...
As we get older it becomes harder for us to remain mentally flexible... we stop looking for new information and start filtering our experience, seeking only that information that will confirm that which we already believe we know.
We even distort our perceptions to preserve the huge investment we have made in beliefs and ideas.
We might imagine threats where there really are none...
I think it is crucial to strive to be able and willing to change our minds.
To always be willing to hold our own ideas up to scrutiny and look as unflinchingly at our own assumptions as we do at the assumptions of others.
Ultimately... it does not matter if we agree...
If a solid debate does nothing but crystalize in your own mind your own position and precisely why you hold it... then it was time well spent.