[AsylumWarden]

I am by no means as smart as these people but I did recently made this observation myself while visiting Google+. I try to avoid political discussions but someone always finds a way to insert them. This time, as I glanced over one such discussion it made me realize... People don't think, they just repeat things that have been told to them, fact or not, as long as it sounds like a good fit. No one involved in these discussions is going to convince the other to change their mind. AIs should be this easy!

[underwater]

That is very true. Most of what I say is phrasing or idioms I've unconciously absorbed. However I obviously don't randomly repeat anything I hear. The things that I absorb are ideas that resonate with my existing world view, which has been crafted by original thought over a much longer time. So behind those memes and tired phrasing in the arguments you heard there is porbably a kernel of unique thought.

This is why I prefer online forums and other forms of asynchronous communication over face to face debates. The former allows me to form an opinion - which can often change as I try to articulate myself. The later relies on my initial reaction, which is always much less refined.