One of my favourite examples of pointless debate is published in the 300 page, The Positivist Dispute in German Sociology. A big chunk of the debate is people attacking Popper’s positivism. Popper’s withering response notes that he wrote a book criticising positivism:
“This is an old misunderstanding created and perpetuated by people who know of my work only at second-hand: owing to the tolerant attitude adopted by some members of the Vienna Circle, my book, Logik der Forschug [The Logic of Scientific Discovery], in which I criticized this positivist Circle from a realist and anti-positivist point of view, was published in a series of books edited by Moritz Schlick and Philipp Frank, two leading members of the Circle; and those who judge books by their covers (or by their editors) created the myth that I had been a member of the Vienna Circle, and a positivist. Nobody who has read that book (or any other book of mine) would agree – unless indeed he believed in the myth to start with, in which case he may of course find evidence to support his belief.” (Popper, 1976, p. 290)
Popper K. (1976) Reason or Revolution? In T. W. Adorno, H. Albert, R. Dahrendorf, J. Habermas, H. Pilot, & K. R. Popper, The Positivist Dispute in German Sociology (pp. 288–300). Heinemann Educational Books.