"When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit." -Ayn Rand
Even though it isn't in the direct quote, I think one could look at this quote on the other side and say there is no profit to be had by either party in a disagreement when the rational, observable universe is not the agreed upon standard. Any appeals to faith or shifting the burden of proof is, as you said, an attempt to divert. Removing the objective eye is to remove the only tool we can use as a common frame of reference in our existence as separate beings.
I think she might have meant that the person that was wrong will profit in being left alone and not being forced to the change their mind and in the end if they are open to it they will profit from being proven wrong and thus able to change their mind on their own accord. I really love that quote. I had never seen it before.
Correct; in the quote, she is speaking of the rational conversation. In my commentary, I am referring to the lack of purpose of your discussion with those of the irrational camp of mind, the people who are denying the many sources that have been duplicated and verified over and over on a given topic, like the shape of our planet. Can and do the discussions happen? Of course. But as you stated at the beginning, the time of critically-thinking and more productively contributing members of society are "wasting their time".
I am fully a skeptic, so I don't argue for blind acceptance as fact. But I do argue that time is everyone's most valuable resource so I make mine count.
well said @thedreamsteem and lovely quote. I am also a skeptic. I never accept anything blindly so years a few years ago I took a close look at flat earth because so many people we're talking about it. I wanted to know the truth so I did the research. There is lots of evidence for a spherical earth but I thought that this was the simplest one for any layman to understand. I spent considerable time looking at flat earth theory. I hope that my post will save people questioning the shape of the earth some time. All the very best!