Sometimes it’s about not conceding defeat in the debate, I agree. And sometimes it’s about convincing people that the proposition is true - sometimes the others, sometimes themselves.
You see the later a lot when people are witch hunting (accusing someone without solids grounds to do so), and the person is actually able to defend themself, or someone defends them. Often the attacker show signs to still genuinely believe that the person being attacked should be attacked, regardless of how you prove them wrong, because they claim that you’re straw manning while doing it.
The sign they know they’re wrong but don’t want to concede defeat.
Sometimes it’s about not conceding defeat in the debate, I agree. And sometimes it’s about convincing people that the proposition is true - sometimes the others, sometimes themselves.
You see the later a lot when people are witch hunting (accusing someone without solids grounds to do so), and the person is actually able to defend themself, or someone defends them. Often the attacker show signs to still genuinely believe that the person being attacked should be attacked, regardless of how you prove them wrong, because they claim that you’re straw manning while doing it.
[Sorry for rambling about this stuff.]