They are not conservatives because they haven’t “heard the good word”, to borrow a phrase
In many ways I agree, but it also always depends on where they are in their journey and how much curiosity they have left. At a minimum their communities serve as a communication test bed. For example, I like to watch some flat earth de-bunkers on YouTube. Nothing they say is new to me, but its good to see how a better worded person breaks the idea down. Its like the Ben Shapiro “sell your house” meme; it sounds right for the first 10s. Sure I would sell my house and leave. Even when you know that is wrong it might not be clear how to break down the idea or what the fallacy being used is. You are right that the argumentative bad faith takers are not going to change their mind, but they are irrelevant. There will be lurkers who are curious about truth who may be deconstructing; that is who I believe the audience is around this.
In many ways I agree, but it also always depends on where they are in their journey and how much curiosity they have left. At a minimum their communities serve as a communication test bed. For example, I like to watch some flat earth de-bunkers on YouTube. Nothing they say is new to me, but its good to see how a better worded person breaks the idea down. Its like the Ben Shapiro “sell your house” meme; it sounds right for the first 10s. Sure I would sell my house and leave. Even when you know that is wrong it might not be clear how to break down the idea or what the fallacy being used is. You are right that the argumentative bad faith takers are not going to change their mind, but they are irrelevant. There will be lurkers who are curious about truth who may be deconstructing; that is who I believe the audience is around this.