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It seems to me that a lot of time and energy has been wasted on these boards (by myself and others) trying to pose arguments that convince others to agree with our point of view.
Heh. It didn't take me long at all to figure out that most people will not change their minds, especially not because of a debate on the internet.
The main purpose I post on boards like this is the challenge of writing a good, logical, clear statement. It is a pretty enjoyable exercise for me. Even as the same old PRATTs come up again and again, I like to see if I can restate the actual facts and reasoning in a different, perhaps clearer way, and to try out completely different lines of argument. I recognize that some of my attempts at a different approach end up falling flat, but, hey, that just makes it more of an accomplishment when I hit one that works.
Also, even if I am answering the same old question for the 100th time, sometimes I gleen new insights either from further study on the matter, or as I think a little deeper on it. Sometimes these insights are not appropriate or off-topic for the post I am answering at the time, but the new insights are illuminating nonetheless.
Also, I am sometimes surprised and pleased to see a new creationist tactic or argument that I have not yet seen before, or I have not yet had the opportunity to respond. This makes the debate even more fun, as I then have to think of a counter argument from scratch.
I have been trained somewhat in physics and mathematics, so I am pretty down with formal logic; however, in the beginning I was really very good at arguments relying on inductive logic or in trying to explain the logical reasoning in something like biological sciences, or the type of value reasoning necessary in politics and current events; up to when I joined this board my reasoning practice was limited to the very precise and technical symbolism used in mathematics. I may still fall a bit short in these areas, but I feel I have made great improvements in my argumentation skills.
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Another, different, reason I come into these boards is that I feel that dishonesty must be confronted and exposed. As Gary Hurd has said, creationists lie; they lie worse than politicians, they lie worse than used car salesmen; they lie even when their argument is undermined by the lie. I feel that lies should be exposed to the public, and that people must point out, in public, to the liar's face, that that person is a liar.
It must be one of the left overs from my days as a strict fundamentalist Christian, but dishonesty and/or sloppy thinking used to promote falsehood are among the most reprehensible things I can think of. When I realize that someone unintentionally beliefs in something incorrect, or is making an argument based on sloppy reasoning, I can be very understanding, even when it becomes clear that the person is, for whatever reason, unable to accept correct facts or apply more rigorous logic, and I will try to offer corrections, not to convince the person of my way of thinking, but to improve their base of knowledge and their thinking abilities. But I become very much less patient when someone is deliberately lying or obfuscating, or when it is clear that they are deliberately maintaining their ignorance on the subject matter.
Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus
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