I'm not sure if growing length in posts is directly correlative to people not being willing to change their own thinking, so much as many of us who debate here seem steeped in what we are used to from the get go. Some of the longer posts are definitely just brick walls illustrating why that person will never change, with pride, usually. Others though are often people bringing up scenarios or tearing apart arguments. Dissecting what a person is saying is important to properly discern where they're coming from and, in a way their explanations may not do intentionally, understanding how/why they think in this way. I'll definitely say a couple monster posts will slow down or even kill any OT thread, but that may not be all that bad. 

I think what's more notable are the reoccurring participants in these conversations who prefer to state 'how the world is' over validating other perspectives. Yes, this is the internet, where people argue without real repercussion. But it's also a small forum where trends are very obvious. Further, it's also an extension of a vast information space where it's plain to see just how many ways of thinking are not just valid, but equally true. To be honest, I deeply enjoy the political and social conversations. I rue every instance where someone comes in, unyielding to the notion that their narrow vision of the world may not be all their is. Life is simply far too complex for any one person to grasp. I enjoy the conversations with those down to give and take, really consider what's said, and able to identify their own biases while making the tough arguments too. Not so much a dialogue when the other is just trying to preach a view that leaves no room for others. I'd say this portion of the longer posts are probably the most volatile and worst for the health of a good OT thread. When the people not interested in actually growing put that much down, it's usually just some attempt to not dissect, but belittle the other perspectives shown to that point. That's not a dialogue. 

So yeah, I wouldn't agree that length is equivalent to stubbornness. Communication is tough and our population lies over a vast socio-economic range. Assuming that you, MDK, could say something built up from all your life experiences and that it would make complete sense to me, with very different experiences, just isn't going to happen in one easy go. It takes a few rewordings, some examples, and in some cases just an extended period of effort to really understand where a person is coming from. Here we just have text. We don't get that body language of the empathetic sense that someone feels very strongly about a thing. I can see why it may take more text for some then. That shouldn't be a problem if they're trying to be understood or to understand.