What convinces you?

[Obelix]

Evidence is pointless unless explained by science, so a qualified vote on evidence for me.

[unbeliever]

But what about politics? There we have at the core a debate over questions of morality.

There are a lot of data available to inform such debates, but some things are just a matter of opinion. In principle some things which could be probed by science are not, at least not reliably, often (at least in part) for practical reasons.

 

We don't really know how many people are fiddling the benefits system for example, or whether staying in the EU is in the long term interests of the UK people.

[the_bloke]

Evidence is pointless unless explained by science, so a qualified vote on evidence for me.

 

Pretty much. I've spent my career auditing and working in QA, as far as I'm concerned no matter how impassioned your argument if you can't back it up with evidence and facts then it's just opinion.

[monkey104]

I've been known to do the same thing. It's not very reliable though in my view.

 

If you see somebody using Ad Hominem a lot and other weak debate tactics, then you assume it's because their case is weak and they resort to it out of desperation. On the other hand, they could just be emotional about the subject, frustrated about something else, or unskilled in debating.

 

I suppose that the written word is the issue. You cannot interpret the feelings behind the argument and it does not always come across how you intended to portray it.

[Berberis]

Evidence is key, but the breadth and credibility of the evidence is more important. The problem is, credibility is subjective and too many people on SF think that a blog is evidence

[tinfoilhat]

I'd be interested to know what other process you're following.

I suppose if you focus on documents where no opinion is expressed, although with most things there will still be some bias intentional or not.

 

Some arguments are very subjective. Who is the best band, where's the best chippy, is there a god - you can put up as many links as you like on that lot!