It gets people to dig in their heels on the positions they already hold, more than it exposes people to new arguments and evidence.
I think there is some merit to this claim. But there is also a counterpoint, which Destiny (one of the debaters mentioned by the OP) talks about here. In the interest of saving readers from clicking on the video, here is a cleaned-up version of what he says:
“I think that the only way that you can break people out of these bad media environments, I think it actually has to be (this sounds so self-serving, I’m so sorry) through debate. I think it’s the most important thing that you can possibly do. [...]
Because as I’m arguing with people, I realize what’s happening. What’s happening is they’re getting a whole bunch of horrible information from whatever commentator they’re listening to. And I can argue with them and I can pummel them and destroy every argument and become the debate god or whatever, but it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day, they can go back and listen to that person.
But I think it does something to your mind (and this is feedback I got a lot back in the past) when you see your information god (i.e., the commentator himself) be forced to actually confront something he said but can’t defend when he’s actually challenged on it.”
I think there is some merit to this claim. But there is also a counterpoint, which Destiny (one of the debaters mentioned by the OP) talks about here. In the interest of saving readers from clicking on the video, here is a cleaned-up version of what he says:
“I think that the only way that you can break people out of these bad media environments, I think it actually has to be (this sounds so self-serving, I’m so sorry) through debate. I think it’s the most important thing that you can possibly do. [...]
Because as I’m arguing with people, I realize what’s happening. What’s happening is they’re getting a whole bunch of horrible information from whatever commentator they’re listening to. And I can argue with them and I can pummel them and destroy every argument and become the debate god or whatever, but it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day, they can go back and listen to that person.
But I think it does something to your mind (and this is feedback I got a lot back in the past) when you see your information god (i.e., the commentator himself) be forced to actually confront something he said but can’t defend when he’s actually challenged on it.”