Debates with believers often target bystanders, not the interlocutor
Evidence
But we have also seen that such lofty goals are not a necessary condition for a discussion to remain meaningful. In some circumstances, one is not discussing for the person with whom one is discussing at all, but for listeners or fellow readers. Perhaps one can shake a firmly established belief system a bit, sow a first seed of doubt, let a first breath of fresh air into a previously closed thought bubble. The success in this case will be seen much later, maybe not even by oneself. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 800
Categorization
- APHORISMS: A practical truth about persuasion in impossible debates: success may come much later or to unseen audiences.
- XREF: connects to: Religious polemic repels the home audience more than the described adversary