I wrote this on the Deathball Offtopic forums, because I felt sorry for some people who were trying to "discuss" on IRC.
To my surprised they all liked what I wrote and agreed. But nothing changed about them yet ;)
Well, here we go.

The start of a discussion is not like "ok, lets discuss"...you just slip into it, and you will know when this is.

At first you have to enter a discussion with an opinion, but not with a diamond-solid opinion.
Every member of the discussion must be treated the with the same respect. Every point that is being raised needs to be seriously considered (even when you hate the opposing person).
And then you must be able to change your opinion based on the new points.
If you do not like a point, back it up with proper reasons.

The main problem here is pride!
Just people THINK they appear weak when they admit they are wrong or so.
Just what it's really like is that admiting a weakness is an indicator of personal, mental strength and requires a lot of respect.

I don't get deeper into it, that would be too much.
But stuff like "you utter retard", "grow up", "get a life", "go get sex" is nothing but stupid. I don't explain why, you know that yourself.
And when someone raises a point and you call it "pathetic" is not valid either. Back it up....but generally, these words all shouldn't be used.
Constant "lol" ":)" or whatever at the "opposing" person isn't suitable either. It's done to show something like "look, I can still laugh, because I feel so superior to you", pretty childish reflexes. And don't laugh at other people's arguments. If you do, it means you are not interested in the truth finding process.

By the way, once one person starts with swear words "you fucking idiot"... nobody of both parties will be able to admit faults or that the other one said something smart. Keep the language clean. Once the language quality is low, the whole discussion is nothing but a pointless argument.
Or would you agree with someone who calls you an idiot? No...
Same for provocation, it's not a good thing usually (depends...really) and results in the rest of the discussion to be a mess.

And yes, I am doing lots of it wrong here and there... clear thing. But I am aware of it and I'm trying :)
Temper is just a bad thing that nobody can subpress, isn't it?

A lot of people also shout around bad things to make others look bad. I'm sure you did that already. But please ask yourself in every case why you are doing it. What would the next step be? How does it appear from the other person's view?
(If I tell someone "you are a fucking idiot", he will not think "yes, you are right", neither will he feel bad!!)
That should have most people being quiet, because they realise that their intentions are totally pointless and awkward.

And the most important of all: There is no winner in a discussion. When you try to win it, you have lost it already, because you are not able to discuss.
It is about an objective search for the truth or a consent.

Mail me your opinion: