> (BTW, I seldom ever see anyone change his mind because of persuasion
> from the opposite side on an e-mail list [of all things!].)
The fact is that very few people change their minds in response to *any* kind of stimuli, so it's not the medium per se, it's the general predilection towards static thinking.
FWIW, despite "more heat than light" I've seen lots of good discussion on the net over the last 20 years and I've see a lot of people make coherent arguments and change people's minds every day.
/jordan