This reminds me of a question I think about from time to time, starting with some of the epic threads I used to witness on the USENET political groups:

Are people online actually open to talking?

I get they write messages, and a lot of messages. But it strikes me no one ever actually changes their mind. They just yell at each other till they move on to another hill to yell from.

It's all so tiring, it's like when I used to watch some friends do prep for school debates. They're just practicing arguing, the topic itself is secondary to the argument.

I'm probably too cynical, but I also know every time I try to have a real discussion online, it ends badly.