Are extremists on an issue a required component?

[Easy E]

The arguments for and against RMGP, on RGP, had me thinking about a topic that I've thought about (in different arenas) before
(NOTE for the uninitiated- the RGP discussed centers around starting a moderated Rec.Gambling.Poker newsgroup).

The topic? Doesn't any good debate REQUIRE crazy extremists, on both sides, in order to more fully expose the issues and develop their solutions?

Or, put another way, no matter how crazy, uncivil, obnoxious, erratic some fringes of any debate are..... would the discussion not be as well defined WITHOUT them? No matter HOW much you'd like to throttle them (or how much they DESERVE to be throttled)?

I've been meaning to put together an essay on this, and hopefully when I have more time, I will (and can add it to this thread) in order to explain my thoughts in detail... but I thought the timing was more important than the final product....

Fire away!

[IrishHand]

I think the reason you generally have extremists in every issue is that they're the ones who feel strongly enough about a matter that they invest the time and energy to research their side to the highest level. Most people in or near the middle don't care enough to waste time and energy on the issue.

Of course, this phenomena is also a desired by-product of an open, democratic society, as you alluded to.

Irish

[marbles]

Extremists can be good, but I don't think the extremism itself is as important as total information. Extremists tend to know a lot about arguing their extreme position, largely because they have had to defend it from so many angles over time.

So, as it turns out, you get two extremists defending their views and offering up all sorts of different defenses of their positions. If the reader in the middle has the patience and wisdom to sift through all of the garbage, he can pull some nice value out of the discussion.

The thing is, you don't have to have a controversial topic to get this kind of passion out of a discussion... IIRC, my "best fruit" post got a flurry of hits a few months back. What can I say... People care very deeply about their choices in fruit.

[whiskeytown]

extremism, yes...

character assassination...bald face lies...unnecessary..

RB