Does getting the last word in a debate equate to winning it?

If this were true, most so called "debates" would never end...

I keep after them until they admit defeat! I am nothing if not persistent.

Given the context of the question, where debates must have a winner and a loser, then it's only a "win" if the other person concedes the debate. Getting the last word just means you are more stubborn than the other person.

No, but many other people seem to think that it does and I often use this to get out of a debate. If you stop, they think they've won and they stop. I don't like "debate" really. I enjoy discussing issues, but Competitive Conversation isn't my event.

not quite. ***cheat! no fair being the administrator and using that to your advantage.

I have typically found that the person who gets in the last word is on the losing side and is trying for one last attempt to prove their point.

lisashea: so you want an apology? ok, I'm sorry you're arrogant, self-deluding, and predictable as hell :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

No, and I lied when I said "that's all I'm going to say on the topic.". Lisashea won that debate fair and square, and I don't think I'm the only person who thinks so.

Nope, content. I'm sure this is based on the EB/Lisa argument. I was in fact going to come on today and wipe out all of my comments in both surveys and move them to my Empathy web page, because it wearies me that she thinks apparently that I'm "out to win". I debate all the time, with friends and family. We don't have winners and losers! We definitely don't resort to name calling, as EB has. Nor to blasting someone for perceived ills and then not apologizing when it's shown there was a simple mistake involved. I truly learned a lot from our debate over empathy; she apparently was trying to win and says she did not learn a thing. I don't enjoy debating when the person I'm debating is in it for the kill. And especially I don't enjoy debating when that person beats on me because he or she THINKS I am "also" in it for the kill.

ElijahBlue: Thank you :) I actually recognize two of those exact same qualities in you, but I think you consider them assets: you, as I, know what your point of view is and doubt people will present new information to change it. Doesn't that make us predictable? Doesn't that make us appear arrogant? As for self-deluding, I doubt either of us is self-deluding. We both argue so many points of view, including our own, that it would be hard to maintain a delusion within that. I don't take offense at our conversations and am trying to empathize and figure out why you do.

Sometimes someone is just more persistent. Should that mean they win even if their argument isn't sound? I don't think so.

'In an argument, you have either two winners, or two losers.'

I am very poor at arguing... in general, if I am in an argument, I lose. Usually I give up as soon as it becomes evident that I am not going to be able to hold my position, which makes my opponent think they have convinced me of something they haven't... so they lose, too.

If I feel like I am holding my own, then I will stay around long enough to find out who is right and who is wrong, and sometimes it is me and sometimes it is you, but either way we both win, because at the end of the argument, we are in agreement.

I find it interesting that you use the word 'partner'.

I have to be right all the time even when I'm not it's my downfall

I hate it when they say "You're right" just to get me to shut up.

I beg to differ, bill... *I* win!

Hey! that's just not fair. Geez. Taking advantage of your power like that ill becomes you ;)

Who cares???

What a ridiculous thought. Content is disjoint from presentation in a debate. Now, maybe in a media circus, flameware, or some other form of communication, but not in a debate.

in getting the last word in, how do you know if you've "won" or is the other person just got tired of listening to you?

None of the above. If the topic is a matter of opinion, no one can win. If not, only who defends the truth can win.

No. Getting the last laugh does.