Change My View - You Are Not So Smart

reddit community called Change My View ... a ready-made natural experiment ... feed it into programs ... to understand the back-and-forth between human beings ... discovered two things: what kind of arguments are most likely to change people’s minds, and what kinds of minds are most likely to be changed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/ : post an opinion you accept may be flawed to understand other perspectives ... Enter with a mindset for conversation, not debate...
Just about anything can be debated in a thoughtful way... content policy enforced strictly but we allow people to get uncomfortable... that's where the growth & perspective happens... get that empathy & understanding ... find common ground...
Natural Language Processing + social computing ... quantify arguing & attitude change. CMV a natural experiment: strict rules + routine for how an argument plays out + if a view is changed it's noted + there's a reward...
Rule against ppl soapboxing... difficult to enforce... against hostility... about openness to change your view... Stick around, keep up & respond ... no posting and running away... No low-effort comments, jokes, memes... community grew really quickly became obvious someone had to take control... astoundingly civil ... About 20% people in 2013 change their mind... 35% by 2017...
Most important factor besides their willingness to change their minds ... ppl must write out in detail their belief before process... Simply elaborating an opinion enough to realise we dont hold that strong a view... spotlight flaws... in front of other people holds you accountable so avoids backfire effect... harder to avoid acknowledging some of your reasoning is problematic given counterarguments... It's hard to change a belief when the holder doesn't themselves understand why they hold it...
1) More ppl in argument, more likely to change the opinion. Cap: ~100...
2) Several rounds of conversation helps... Once you've reached 5... nothing will change...
3) more dissimilar response - word choice - response more convincing... probably a new argument ... unique perspective...
Longer response, with links ... bullet points seem to be most deciding factor... break your argument down... 2-3 core statements / premises... then elaborate... More evidence probably indicates stronger arguments...
Avoid arousal... Don't make them mad... ascribe things to people... pose conditional insults...
People more likely to change their minds... uses 1st person pronouns ... this is my opinion, not our opinion... more likely to change... Bullet points... ask them to list Why they believe... more time spent thinking ... idea more organised easier to give counterarguments...
AI-enhanced argument composition... Summarising/mapping different perspectives... identify which ideas are winning... AI community moderation, ideas shaped by algorithms determine cultural change...
without anonymity, superficial connections only... pseudonymity provides the security required for deeper connections at scale... .02% content is reported on reddit...