[hp6]

IMO the author underestimates the positive effects of non combative debates between adults. For a long time before we could just google, debating was one of the main ways we used to check our ideas. Do you believe the sky is red? Try to debate someone and see if you can convince them. And while we now can just google most of the simpler things, that's not the case for complex ideas.

As the author notes by simply listening you will have a better view of the other persons arguments. But at the same time you deprive them from the opportunity of validating their ideas. Which is not a simple tradeoff.

Even worse most people will take silence as a form of agreement, which for a debate about C++ vs Rust is no big loss but is not true for a lot of other issues. And strangely enough the examples provided by the author are complex non trivial ideas no one should take for face value or agree by silence.