The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement.   But the opposite of a profound truth may be another profound truth.

I liked that, freda - was it a quote you came across, or is it something that should go in the Gallery of Mudcat Quotations?

Maybe the distintion between sport and play is that in sport winning is what it's basically all about. In play what matters is to the game going, and to enjoy yourself.

A good discussion is more akin to play than sport. I don't mean that people don't mean what they say, or are indifference to issues like truth, but what they are doing is exploring their differences, and refining their oiwn point of view. When people set out to win by means of tricks and sleight of word, they are turning it into a kind of sporting activity, and I see that as a wasted opportunity, especially when it's a discussion about something that matters. (Play debates are a bit different.)