Discussing controversial topics with those with contrasting views is not useful because very few people change their mind when questioned about their core beliefs.
Beliefs form the cornerstone of our various world views and they can vary tremendously from person to person. The author suggests that discussions with people possessing contrasting views is superfluous since such discussions rarely result in a change of mind. I disagree with this for the below reasons.
Firstly, the assumption that belief systems are entrenched deeply and are not changeable seems to be far from truth. Human beings constantly evolve and shape new beliefs and opinions based on the new data and inputs that their everyday life experiences present them. For example, Buddha who was himself, enlightened after seeing suffrage in the world, went on to inspire plenty of other people with his teachings. One among these was Angulimaala - a cruel, reprobate who underwent drastic change after his encounter with Buddha. A cogent discussion can easily encourage a person to rethink their existing belief systems.
Effectiveness of a discussion can't be measured solely based on whether it was able to change a person's mind after the discussion. Change happens gradually - especially when it's a change in a person's long held views. A thief might not be persuaded at once to stop theft. But, a continuous, patient effort to explain why stealing is bad and providing satisfactory answers to the fairness of the indignant treatment he received all his life - could effectively correct his behaviour. A single discussion might not bring the intended results. But, each one of them surely sparks and develops a thought process in the other way.
Controversial discussion is not always about one group succeeding to convince the other group of their righteousness. There is no single correct world view in most cases. It depends on the time and circumstances. But what matters the most in these cases is to not have a strong belief in the moral righteousness or superiority of their own world view, with a disain and contempt for everyone else's way of thinking. One should be ready to respect differing views on the same matter even if they don't personally hold that view.
Therefore, discussing controversial topics with those with different views should be encouraged since they help widen the perspective and might even succeed in correcting wrong behaviours. Mankind and morality is constantly evolving and it is such discussions and societal influences that can push civilisations to reach greater heights.
- The following is taken from a memo from the advertising director of the Super Screen Movie Production Company According to a recent report from our marketing department during the past year fewer people attended Super Screen produced movies than in any ot 58
- The best way for a society to prepare its young people for leadership in government industry or other fields is by instilling in them a sense of cooperation not competition 83
- Over the past year our late night news program has devoted increasingly more time to covering national news and less time to covering weather and local news During the same time period most of the complaints we received from viewers were concerned with th 69
- All too often companies hire outside consultants to suggest ways for the company to operate more efficiently If companies were to spend more time listening to their own employees such consultants would be unnecessary 50
- A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college 58
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 3, column 622, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
... rethink their existing belief systems. Effectiveness of a discussion cant be me...
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Line 5, column 31, Rule ID: CANT[1]
Message: Did you mean 'can't' or 'cannot'?
Suggestion: can't; cannot
...ems. Effectiveness of a discussion cant be measured solely based on whether it ...
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Line 5, column 174, Rule ID: IT_IS[6]
Message: Did you mean 'it's' (='it is') instead of 'its' (possessive pronoun)?
Suggestion: it's; it is
...nge happens gradually - especially when its a change in a persons long held views. ...
^^^
Line 5, column 190, Rule ID: A_PLURAL[1]
Message: Don't use indefinite articles with plural words. Did you mean 'a person' or simply 'persons'?
Suggestion: a person; persons
...ually - especially when its a change in a persons long held views. A thief might not be p...
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Line 7, column 495, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: don't
...g views on the same matter even if they dont personally hold that view. Therefore...
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Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, first, firstly, if, so, therefore, for example, in most cases
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 17.0 19.5258426966 87% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 9.0 12.4196629213 72% => OK
Conjunction : 15.0 14.8657303371 101% => OK
Relative clauses : 8.0 11.3162921348 71% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 30.0 33.0505617978 91% => OK
Preposition: 52.0 58.6224719101 89% => OK
Nominalization: 2.0 12.9106741573 15% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2038.0 2235.4752809 91% => OK
No of words: 389.0 442.535393258 88% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.23907455013 5.05705443957 104% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.44106776838 4.55969084622 97% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.88919251022 2.79657885939 103% => OK
Unique words: 232.0 215.323595506 108% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.596401028278 0.4932671777 121% => OK
syllable_count: 603.9 704.065955056 86% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59117977528 101% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 2.0 6.24550561798 32% => OK
Article: 6.0 4.99550561798 120% => OK
Subordination: 0.0 3.10617977528 0% => More adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 1.0 1.77640449438 56% => OK
Preposition: 1.0 4.38483146067 23% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 21.0 20.2370786517 104% => OK
Sentence length: 18.0 23.0359550562 78% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 49.1329355064 60.3974514979 81% => OK
Chars per sentence: 97.0476190476 118.986275619 82% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.5238095238 23.4991977007 79% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.14285714286 5.21951772744 60% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.97078651685 101% => OK
Language errors: 5.0 7.80617977528 64% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 8.0 10.2758426966 78% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 5.13820224719 117% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.83258426966 145% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.31037124569 0.243740707755 127% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0790553841788 0.0831039109588 95% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0707799974715 0.0758088955206 93% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.172075305045 0.150359130593 114% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0538829438311 0.0667264976115 81% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.5 14.1392134831 88% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 53.21 48.8420337079 109% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.92365168539 39% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 12.1743820225 85% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.11 12.1639044944 108% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.12 8.38706741573 109% => OK
difficult_words: 113.0 100.480337079 112% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.0 11.8971910112 67% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 11.2143820225 82% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.7820224719 85% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.