Scientists are frequently advised to never participate in a live debate with a creationist. This is because being right has absolutely nothing to do with winning.
“Debating creationists on the topic of evolution is rather like playing chess with a pigeon—it knocks the pieces over, craps on the board, and flies back to its flock to claim victory.”—Scott D. Weitzenhoffer
Debates are not a rationality competition. They’re a Dark Arts competition, in which the goal is to use whatever underhanded trick you can come up with in order to convince somebody to side with you. Evidence doesn’t matter, because it’s trivial to simply lie your ass off and get away with it.
The only kind of debates worth having are written debates, in which, when someone tells a blatant lie, you can look up the truth somewhere and take all the space you need to explain why it’s a lie—and “cite your sources, or you forefeit” is a reasonable rule.
Scientists are frequently advised to never participate in a live debate with a creationist. This is because being right has absolutely nothing to do with winning.
Debates are not a rationality competition. They’re a Dark Arts competition, in which the goal is to use whatever underhanded trick you can come up with in order to convince somebody to side with you. Evidence doesn’t matter, because it’s trivial to simply lie your ass off and get away with it.
The only kind of debates worth having are written debates, in which, when someone tells a blatant lie, you can look up the truth somewhere and take all the space you need to explain why it’s a lie—and “cite your sources, or you forefeit” is a reasonable rule.