My friend (who is still on mute, so their texts are going to my Signal archives) thinks there has to be "tolerance for debate" and... no. No there doesn't.
I'm not interested in trying to change someone's mind or in them trying to force their opinions on me. I have zero desire to debate anyone. To me, it's inherently bullying and violent and not a form of communication at all.
It also needs to be consensual. If you bring your "debate" to me and won't drop it, that's just rude. 2/n
"Debate me, bro" has to be opt-in, or else it's just rudeness and harassment.
In contrast, if someone who respects me wants to have a conversation in good faith in which we both share our starting positions and exchange information and ideas about reasonable topics, I'm down for that.
But I'm not going to "debate you" at all, and I'm not going to validate YouTube and Reddit talking points about hate speech and bigotry.
And thus, when in doubt, I disengage. 3/n
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