Genuinely curious. And I mean opinions you hold strongly - Politics mainly, though I guess maybe Sport or games as well.

Probably not for me, in fact, I often walk away with my original beliefs reinforced, and with an appreciation that I am not delusional enough to share the opinion of whoever I was arguing with. Very arrogant, I know.

On Warlight? No. The arguments here have very little depth and tend to just go over the first few layers of debates that have already occurred elsewhere. Not much to gain from people parroting talking points and quickly escalating into open hostility.

On communities more oriented toward discussion/debate? Yeah, to some extent. At the least it's allowed me to see the perspective of the other side. But a lot of that's just been spurred by growing up in real life, having new experiences, and meeting new people. The Internet was just one little thing on top of that. I think these debates are more worthwhile as ways to learn than as ways to change your own viewpoints (or someone else's viewpoints).

If you sidestep the filtering effect of the Internet and visit communities of people that disagree with you (even strongly), you also manage to gain a bit of perspective and empathy. That's probably the biggest thing to gain here- to get some idea of the experiences of people you'd never meet IRL. Without the Internet, I'd likely never have considered the impacts on Brazil of American sanctions against Russia; some of the people I've talked to and learned from are people I wouldn't have even known about had the Web never been invented.

Yes, that is quite true. The Web is a a great instrument for broadening your perspective, which I think is the epitome behind developing your own opinion.

I think humans in general are so proud of our own opinions that its impossible for us to drastically change opinions overnight, simply because we partook in a single Internet argument or read a political commentary. Rather it is through evaluating streams of constant information over a period of time are our opinions are slowly morphed and evolved.

That could explain the pointlessness of one-off arguments on WL but the effectiveness of the media. You read Huffingtonpost or Breitbart for so long and the constant stream of one-sided, extreme left/right opinions slowly diffuses into you and you end up championing those ideas as well.

Edited 7/23/2016 13:09:11

Strongly agree there. I think the filter bubbles we're able to create end up eroding the public sphere, restricting dialogue, and ultimately hurting democracy.

After all, it's viscerally uncomfortable to look at views different from yours. So why not just go to a group that agrees with you? It's one of those new things the Internet lets us do- unless you're willing to move, odds are you don't live in a real-life community as liberal as dailyKos or as conservative as the Heritage Foundation. There's been extreme media for a long while now, but at least back then you still had to interact with that guy who watched only MSNBC or that girl who watched only Fox; your interactions were still mostly with people IRL and you didn't have the option to just unfriend these people unless you wanted to give up your social life.

As a result, extreme opinions amplify and we forget about the other side so often we start seeing them as caricatures. Not hard to find that nowadays- both sides of the US election are just assuming motivations ("Trump supporters are all racist," "Hillary supporters are all globalists," etc.) or straight-up calling the other side idiots instead of trying to understand why they believe what they believe. It's gotten to the point where it's easier to believe half your country is intellectually leagues below you than it is to realize that your opinion isn't some objective truth and that other perspectives are possible.

Personally I usually do not change view but often I find my views become less extreme and more empathetic of the opposing view.

9GAG did.

On Warlight? No.

Basically this. I've had some pretty revealing discussions over the web with people, and most of the time, in gaming websites (or even inside the game itself). But not on WarLight.

I used to think 70% of warlight players were dumbasses. This is a view I no longer hold. I now believe 95% are. Does this count?

Edited 7/23/2016 15:43:47

It was less arguing and more of just talking to X for a while.

Arguing is closed-minded, dialect is open-minded. I think this is by meaning.

Edited 7/23/2016 19:49:08

Not arguments, but rambling with Karl and Jim has

ive changed my mind numerous times by arguing on the net

Christians on the internet really harmed my opinion of Christians actually. Most of these pro-war Christians cannot be described as Christians. They're not really followers of Christ, more just Jews with a different name and less adherence to those customs and a few adopted customs.

Warlight never helped me to change my opinions, not enough debating quality in the side of ppl who disagree with my views. But the internet as a hole was essential, to either confort my views on a subject or to change my views in some things.

Morally I've migrated to the left over the years, from being a centrist soft catholic to a very liberal morally speaking deist. I doubt I will change too much there.

Economically, I went from the left to the centre-left vision of controlled capitalism. I think I can still change my views there.

All of this wasnt just due to internet chatting, as the internet itself offered me tons of reading material to read and watch.

^+1, except I am on the right wing

I don't see problems at having divergences with my political views, I don't pretend to be owner of the truth. So long as you can defend your position with actual arguments, it's always good to talk with someone who thinks differently.

But too often people prefer to camp in their positions insulting the other side for having divergences, using little more than bigotry and hatred instead of real facts.

Ad hominems (spelling?) are the order of the day for some.
Sometimes I like defending a position I don't agree with...because it's fun.