Have you ever had the realization mid-argument, that you were very wrong?

I have never had this happen because I have never made a mistake once /s

Yes.

I used to be very anti-gay because I was raised religious. One day, someone explained to me that gay people feel exactly the same feelings as straight people, it's just they're directed differently. Somehow, that made it all click and it just made sense.

I'm glad that age has given me the comfort to tell people when I just don't know, and therefore, don't have an opinion on some things.

I've had it happen before but I can't think of any specific examples.

My reaction to it however has evolved over time. When I was younger I'd be way more embarrassed over it and just stop debating, accepting defeat at the next opportunity, only to shrink away in shame.

Nowadays though, I'll still be embarrassed, but immediately admit fault, laugh at my stupidity and issue any necessary retraction. People are usually disarmed when you can admit you were wrong and they were right. Even more if you throw a little joke about being dumb or something in there.

I have a tendency to mix things together, especially if the two things getting mixed in my mind are already pretty similar. Sometimes I realize this mid-way through a sentence.

Several times! And not necessarily wrong, but missing a perspective that changes my opinion. That’s how we learn and grow. It’s also why you and more people should read books.

Yes, it sucks, I feel stupid, and if the person that I was arguing with is angry then I'm fucked whether or not I apologise or try to learn more

Often. I just say something like "okay, you might be right/you're entirely right, my bad and thank you". I like to ask and answer all sorts of things, this happens somewhat often, lol.

Yes. My partner at the time had brought something up and I started to disagree.

Mid retort I realized I was speaking from my shitty upbringing again, paused to mull that over, and then rejected my own retort right there in front of her.

It's not often anymore, but I'm still surprised by the occasional stupid idea put into my head by religious indoctrination as a know nothing child that I have to deprogram from even decades later.

How did your interlocutor react?

She values my ability to self reflect on the spot like that, so she reacted with love.

How would you like someone to react if you concede errors?

Without malice.

Absolutely! And I kid you not, it’s one of my favorite experiences, for a few reasons.

First, there’s an instant feeling of relief. I immediately have the power to conclude the argument (debate, discussion, whatever) with a productive result. There’s no burden of truth or anything that remains. I was just wrong! The only possible thing left to discuss might be why, like if there was a miscommunication or something, but otherwise, poof! Done and dusted.

Second, a bit more selfishly, it’s a chance to demonstrate how OK with being wrong I truly am, which most people simply find it hard to believe until they’ve seen it for themselves. So I’ve learned to jump on these opportunities aggressively, in case I miss the window due an additional thread of conversation I can’t agree with or because for some reason they acknowledge a misunderstanding first, after which my change of mind loses some luster (again, selfish, but I’m being honest here).

Third, sometimes the other person flips to take my original stance, like “not so fast!” and that just makes the original debate more fun, because then we’ve both acknowledged that being right isn’t really that important. They result is a more demonstrably pure discussion with seeking truth as the goal, rather than a zero-sum match of wits with a “winner” and a “loser.”

There are additional reasons and scenarios, depending on the context, but the ones I mention above are pretty consistent. The point is that being wrong is a trophy to add to your collection of all the times you learned something and, by that token, became slightly less wrong than you were before.

Edit: flesh out #2 a bit more, especially with respect to why immediacy might matter to me personally.

Yeah, I think everyone has. Unless they are astoundingly arrogant.

When that realization moment happens, it’s like flipping a switch. Like losing steam, getting past the anger. I tend to get quiet and actually listen/empathize instead of trying to win the argument. I also quiet down due to feeling ashamed of being wrong. I have no problems saying “sorry” if that’s the case.

I've had a couple lemmy arguments where I missed a subtle point that the other person was making and mistook it for something else.

You just got to bite that bullet, I usually say: I'm sorry. I misread what you were saying. It's my bad.

And then I continue on with any other disagreements I may have, but if there's none then I usually end it with. Have a nice life.

The moment it is more about winning than it is about truth, the less interesting the conversation is to me.

The last time it has happened it probably was back when I was ~15 on reddit. I probably just stopped replying.

Nowadays I don't start anything unless about ~100% confident in my position. Even then 90% of the time I just let it slide.

If this hasn’t happened to you then you are probably full of hubris

I try to admit I am wrong generally but I do not always because I have some hubris because I am crappy sometimes. Sometimes the people on the other side are graceful in their “winning” and sometimes not

Being wrong is a great way to learn. Everyone is wrong sometimes, so I don’t see it as a flaw to be ashamed of. I think the best way to handle being wrong is to acknowledge it and treat it as a learning opportunity.

I really can't think of a time where I have. But I also don't see myself making factual claims about anything without having sufficient first hand experience. If I get into any kind of online "argument", my contribution is basically only going to be logic, not facts. The other person brings the facts and we walk down the logic tree together.

Once it was demonstrated to me that I was wrong acknowledge that I was wrong and we moved forward.

All the time

This is an accurate description of most national governments