Have you found that in your discussions IRL with people...

I haven't met albaby IRL, and maybe I'm just weird, but he (and some others on the old TMF) changed my mind about "socialized medicine" back ~2009. So, it can happen.

In my case, I was dead-set against it. I had changed my registration to "independent" during the Bush Jr years, but still had some Republican positions (probably still do, actually). Voted for Obama, but was not convinced about government healthcare.

I imagine he didn't expect to change my mind online, but the cadre of posters that joined-in all managed to do it with facts, data, and logical arguments. I'm not too proud to admit when I was wrong, and in that case I was wrong.

I never expect to change anyone's mind here. Nor in real life. If it happens, great. It seems most people are married to their positions, and many regard their opinions to be as good as facts. It's more for me...do my positions hold-up? What are the arguments against them?

Same IRL, though there is a lot less of that since I retired.