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So I was talking with a leftist friend recently about race-swapping in movies, as well as the general topic of racism, and we clashed on a bunch of things. I'm not sure how well I did, and I'm worried I capitulated too much - I usually take more moderate stances when speaking with leftists IRL than I do online, since I'm usually trying to persuade and shift them towards a point of view which is more critical to wokeness and the usual mainstream narrative.
If you go "Your entire worldview and perception is wrong, here's the evidence" from the outset all you're going to have is an opponent that won't listen to you. It's a fine line you have to tread and I'm still finding my feet as to how to navigate real-time debate. He did capitulate to quite a good portion of my points too (or at least seemed to, from my perspective), but again it's hard to know how hard to push your ideas. There's also the fact that they've got a lot of "common wisdom" on their side which is a big boon in conversations because they can simply make statements and disproving big claims in real-time communication can't be effectively done, as opposed to online where you can take the time to organise things and fully make your case against certain common preconceptions.
What are your methods of debating with people in the real world, and how do you know how hard to press your point?
There is an awesome technique called "Street epistemology", with the specific purpose to challenge someone's beliefs in a respectful way. It is similar to the Socratic Method and you can find many videos where people try to use it. It is truly beautiful to witness the moments where someone really starts to have doubts about some cherished belief. I really like Anthony Magnabosco on Youtube, he is so nice and respectful while at the same time relentless in demanding logic in the arguments of his interlocutors. Here an example I liked particularly well: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mwBF5cSRHFA
The disadvantage is that street epistemology seems very time consuming, and only works when there is positive rapport.
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