Why Debating People Today Is Almost Always A Waste of Time

I really wish I could write about a more positive topic today, but this is something that’s been on my mind for a while now.

I have been writing about controversial topics on the internet professionally for 16 years and socially for 13 years before that. (Yes, I was debating people on the internet back in 1996 when we had to use mail list servers.)

That’s a total of almost 30 years debating people online regarding controversial topics.

In that time, I’ve started to notice a difference.

I’ve found that today, the majority of people who disagree with my points don’t use any logical, fact-based arguments. They just use feelings.

More importantly, they openly say this and don’t even hide the fact that they are just using feelings to defend their positions.

Indeed, this has always happened with some people, but it seems like more than 10 years ago, most people who disagreed with me at least tried to find facts, data, and logic to argue with me.

Usually they failed, but at least they tried, which is good.

But in the last 10 years or so, it seems like most of that has gone away.

To be clear, I’m not talking about any one particular issue.

The topic could be minimum wage, non-monogamy, Western Collapse, the existence of God, Dubai, the friend zone, Trump, dating Latina women, socialism, or anything else.

I’ll talk about why (true) socialism doesn’t work, using facts and data to support what I’m saying, and typical, rank-and-file left-wing people will respond with a straight face, “I don’t care what the facts are, capitalism is evil, this is just how I feel.”

I’ll talk about why I don’t believe in the Judeo-Christian God, using facts and data to support what I’m saying, and I’ll get responses from religionists saying things like, “You don’t get it. Believing in God isn’t about facts or science, you have to just feel it in your heart.”

I’ll talk about why non-monogamy is far superior to monogamy in just about every way, using facts and data that support what I’m saying, and pro-monogamy people will scream at me about how I’m promoting promiscuity and how bad that is while I’m clearly saying (as I have since 2009) that most men only need to have sex with two women.

I’ll talk about why Trump is literally destroying America when he does things like pass bills that increase federal borrowing by almost $4 trillion, mere months after he promised to let Elon/DOGE reduce spending, and Trump supporters respond by screaming childish ad hominem attacks.

It’s not just the topics I talk about.

When I take the time to consume political podcasts (God fobid) I see the same things on there. I’ll see a pro-Israel person and an anti-Israel person both spit out the dumbest, most irrational points I’ve ever seen in my life, ending the “debate” nowhere.

Just look at all the stuff surrounding Nick Fuentes on the right and Zohran Mamdani on the left. It’s just all emotions. All of it.

I think that today, in the midst of the Collapse of the West, the vast majority of people, even smart ones, have completely and openly embraced emotionalism. It’s increased to the point where they’re not even hiding it anymore.

This is why I’m starting to think that debating topics online or in real life with 95%+ of people, at least people who live in the Collapsing West, has just become a waste of time.

If someone says 2+2=5 because they love 5 and hate 4 and that’s how they feel, what’s the point in debating that person?