all manner of debates are based on which is the more popular side of the coin. I dont think people necessarily turn debates into popularity contests because its between two people. For one to win the debate, they have to be able to convince others that their ideas and views and takes are right....therefore serving up THEIR side of the debate as the more "popular" side to stand on.

There are some who will stand on the side with more people on it because they're followers and weak in their own minds. But most go with what they believe to be true and right no matter how many people are standing with them.

@ Dani: Top Contributor simply means this person answers a lot of questions...not necessarily that their answers are amazing. Calm down.

"Christian does not like an atheist so they refute all of the atheist's claims simply by declaring that it isn't evidence when in reality it is."

You should provide some examples of these so called "unrefutable claims". My guess is that the claims were logically invalid, the theist pointed it out, but you let your bias get in the way.

Yep, seen the same with the vice versa of your example too.

This R&S section is the perfect breeding ground for these types of people.

It's just an ego building thing, just goes to show how selfish humanity is at it's core... which is quite tragic. People like to assume the "It is not enough that I should succeed, others must fail" attitude.

@Dani - it's really not hard to get a top commenter title. You don't even have to get best answer, you just answer stuff from the same section for a while and boom. Tbh I don't even want it, it can sometimes even be a reinforcer to this "popularity contest" illusion that is the subject of this question. Which is horribly wrong. But Yahoo gets money off it so they don't care

Watch any debate with Hamza Tzortzis and you will definitely see someone that doesn't care what flies out of his mouth, just as long as the crowd likes him.

@Smaug The Tremendous - That's interesting coming from a top contributor. How many hours did you have to spend on Y!A to get that title, again?

EDIT: I assure you that I am calm. Thank you.

I know what Top Contributor is - and I apologize for calling you out like that. You're right - it does give the illusion that you're trying to be a know it all. I'll reserve my judgments. But maybe you should reserve your judgments as well. You have no idea what are the motives of people on here.

Because debates ARE popularity contests.

Those are people who run out of ideas and arguments to support their position.

By the way, there is no such word as "cuz." The word is "because."

Because being right is less important than "owning" someone.

There hasn't been much debate, really.

isnt popularity the purpose of religious debates?