I have and would never neg-rep someone for disagreeing with me, especially since that's where I get my jollies. Perhaps I'm nothing but a contrarian? I hope not.
Wings: I understand the desire to railroad a particular discussion onto the variation of the topic that it really should be, having attempted it many times on multiple subjects myself. But in his case I think you're trying to shift it the wrong way. Getting everyone to agree that we don't know and that that's what we should be talking about kills the discussion, there's no material to work with. But with beliefs there's an actual target. "What do you believe and why" is the question(s) that spark these discussions and give us something to actually talk about. What we know comes in at the "why" part (if ever, and is the part that STM so graciously complemented me on earlier in this thread), not at the "what" part.
Beliefs are transient, yes, and that's what makes them fun to talk about. They might change, or be changed for us. And they provide an actual goddamn discussion.
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