[endominus]

This response is indicative of a completely different perspective on the idea of "argument" (and "making up your mind," a phrase that does not appear in the than the original article and would not fit with the framework of understanding expressed therein). The belief that your mind should or even can be "settled" on an issue - that you can examine the evidence, weigh it, judge it, come to a definitive conclusion, and then never think about it again - is not universal.

There exist people who think probabilistically; issues are not definitively decided in their mind, but given some likelihood of being one way or another. Such people tend to have much more accurate understandings of the world and benefit greatly from constructive debate, revisiting the same issues over and over again as new evidence is brought up in these arguments. If you'd like to know more, I recommend reading the book The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef.

[9rx]

> "making up your mind," a phrase that does not appear in the than the original article and would not fit with the framework of understanding expressed therein

While it does not explicitly appear, a mind cannot be changed if it was never made. Change, by definition, requires something to already exist.

> revisiting the same issues over and over again as new evidence is brought up in these arguments.

Right. But they can't change their mind as they never established something that can be changed. This is the state before a mind is made. It is possible that a mind will never be made. For complex subjects, it is unlikely that a mind can be made.

[endominus]

>But they can't change their mind as they never established something that can be changed.

"I am 70% confident that candidate X will win the upcoming elections."

"Oh, new polling data has come in that shows more support than I previously knew about? I'm now 80% confident of their victory."

Why do you think change cannot occur unless a belief is certain?