Debate defends assumptions as truth . Dialogue causes introspection on one's own position. Debate causes critique of the other position. Dialogue opens the possibility of reaching a better solution than any of the original solutions. Debate defends one's own positions as the best solution and excludes other solutions.
Debate creates a close-minded attitude, a determination to be right.
Dialogue calls for temporarily suspending one's beliefs. Debate calls for investing wholeheartedly in one's beliefs . In dialogue, one searches for basic agreements. In debate, one searches for glaring differences. In dialogue, one searches for strengths in the other positions.