"Another important point is, in my view, that argument is not about trying to convince the other guy. ..."

I was thinking about this myself. I need to keep saying it to myself as a mantra. It is actually the motivation at this point for me. I do forget myself though. Feel free to nudge me with a sharp elbow if you see me doing that in the future.

I finished your essay. It took me about 1 hour with about 6 hours of detours to follow the references. I have some questions which I'll post later.
thanks