I’ve yet to meet somebody better than me at arguing politics; that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for me to get better, however, which is one of my motivations in continuing to do so. I’m not sure that A logically leads to B.
I’ve yet to meet somebody better than me at arguing politics
Are you measuring this in times that you think you lost a political argument, times your opponent thought you won a political argument, or times you learned something interesting by discussing politics?
I measure this in terms of a personal judgement that an objective or hostile third party would declare that my opponent has failed, which is not the same as “winning.” It’s impossible for me to win an argument, only to lose it. “Winning” would imply that there’s no additional argument which could not be constructed to defeat my current argument. I can’t prove the nonexistence of such an argument.
(I argue against the ideal, not the opponent; my opponent can lose, but my argument cannot win.)
There’s a difference: you (presumably) acknowledge that it’s possible for you to get better at arguing politics. Rand did not. Rand believed it was impossible for anyone to be better than her.
I’ve yet to meet somebody better than me at arguing politics; that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for me to get better, however, which is one of my motivations in continuing to do so. I’m not sure that A logically leads to B.
Are you measuring this in times that you think you lost a political argument, times your opponent thought you won a political argument, or times you learned something interesting by discussing politics?
I measure this in terms of a personal judgement that an objective or hostile third party would declare that my opponent has failed, which is not the same as “winning.” It’s impossible for me to win an argument, only to lose it. “Winning” would imply that there’s no additional argument which could not be constructed to defeat my current argument. I can’t prove the nonexistence of such an argument.
(I argue against the ideal, not the opponent; my opponent can lose, but my argument cannot win.)
There’s a difference: you (presumably) acknowledge that it’s possible for you to get better at arguing politics. Rand did not. Rand believed it was impossible for anyone to be better than her.