Ask HN: Liberal seeking conservative pen pal for good faith debate
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25366017Is there a venue for matching people with politically opposed views to meet, learn, share, and debate with each other in good faith? I have wanted to do this for awhile and I think now it is more important than ever. My views are for the most part what one would label as "liberal" as opposed to "conservative" in the common but highly reductive US political terms. My social media bubble is an echo chamber so I only ever see strawman arguments in opposition. I don't talk about politics with co-workers for the same reason I don't talk about sports or religion---it never ends well!
I want to meet smart people with politically different views who are also interested in healthy debate. By "healthy" I mean you should both expect and extend respect for each other's right to hold our opinions. I would not be trying to "convert" anyone to my point of view. I will be open-minded enough to admit to not having all the answers. I will commit to logical, well-reasoned discussion. Argumentation can be heated, but personal attacks are off limits. I genuinely want to understand how other people think, especially those who have come to different views about topics than I have.
I would prefer a 1:1 format, or perhaps a small group discussion board. Real time video would probably be best to promote honest discourse due to the human connection, but might be logistically difficult to arrange, and I also want both sides to have time to think before preparing responses.
Any interest?