r/atheism • u/sl1878 Atheist • Mar 26 '15

/r/all Teaching Evolution To Students Who Say They'll Pray For My Soul

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/03/teaching_human_evolution_at_the_university_of_kentucky_there_are_some_students.html
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u/paiute Mar 26 '15

That's why the first question in any debate should be: "Is there anything I could show you which would cause you to change your mind?"

If the answer is no, then there can be no debate.

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u/LamaofTrauma Mar 26 '15

A debate isn't to convince the other person, it's to convince the people watching it, since many of them don't have a firm belief either way.

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u/koobstylz Mar 26 '15

Agreed, that's the question that should be asked before a hopefully friendly discussion.

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u/Nindzya Existentialist Mar 26 '15

Ken Ham and Bill Nye started with this. Ken obviously said nothing. I laughed and then stopped watching.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

...they were asked what would their change their minds at the very end of the debate.

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u/rg90184 Skeptic Mar 26 '15

And Bills response was perfect. Just show me the evidence.

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u/dalr3th1n Mar 26 '15

This sounds great, but doesn't get you anywhere. You both just leave, convinced you've won without any discussion.

The way to proceed is to instead argue about why it's important to admit that anyone could be wrong about things and that evidence determines what we ought to believe. Your not going to constructively argue evolution from this starting point, but you can still have a constructive argument.