Reply #5: A bunch of things.

[Igel]

I don't know that it's changed my mind about anything I believe. But if I wanted to change my mind and was just looking for reasons, I'm sure I could find them in all sorts of places.

Why do I read what I read here, compose far more posts than I submit, and even submit those that I do?

(1) Sometimes there's an argument that I find interesting. I explore it, often tacitly, and my thinking either hones my own arguments. A few times I've decided I'm less sure than I used to be; sometimes I decide that I believe something a bit more securely. Sometimes it's caused me to find a gap in what I believe, and I have to fill it in; or I realize that there's an alternate interpretation, and I have to decide which I agree with (if either, or if a decision is even possible).

(2) Sometimes there's an argument posted that lacks some crucial fact--one that could clinch the argument, or one that knocks a gaping hole in it--or that posits a fact I can't agree with. Argumentation here is frequently collective and interactive, so I collect and interact.

(3) Sometimes it's interesting to see what the range of beliefs are. I may think them ill-founded, mistaken, or even loony, but I try to deal with them with at least a modicum of respect. In some threads I post what I believe, certainly not mainstream or probably shared by anybody else in DU, and others find what I believe to be ill-founded, mistaken, or even loony. I profit from learning the range, and from whatever response I get. I assume others do, too.

(4) Sometimes a post will involve an argument, but arguments, IMHO, need to involve agreed-upon facts. Agreeing upon a set of facts can be an interesting process; seeing the facts that are proposed and searching to see if they're probable, plausible, or unlikely (with 'certain' and 'ludicrous' being the extremes on the scale) can be worthwhile. They're facts I wouldn't normally run across, and I find that either confirming or casting doubt on a fact is sufficient motivation for me to rummage; but in the absence of that motivation, I wouldn't care.

(5) Sometimes an OP asks a question, or wants a range of facts and opinion to examine in order to try to draw order out of chaos, or to see what kinds are arguments are needed or proper. It's fairly easy to misconstrue what others believe; it's possible for people to be blinded as to the implications of their own belief. Interaction, even with those of unlike mind, can be illuminating.

Esp. for someone like me, unchurched these many years.

Happy Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, if you're so inclined. :-)

On edit: I think people searching for a belief system to call their own don't typically do well here, and those that are dogmatic about having others accept their beliefs--unless they're atheists--don't do well here. And for the record, since some people pointedly have no beliefs (as they define the term), I use 'belief' to not obligatorily indicate belief in a divinity or some sort of revelation, but in the rightness or wrongness of any sort of plausibly unprovable moral precept.