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I disagree that debate is stupid.
All it's really about is two people (or parties) with different opinions.
I think debating is good...for everyone.
It allows people to hear BOTH sides (or opinions) of a question....I don't know what's wrong with that.
We can never always agree on issues....debates allow us to say how, and why we feel as we do.
I disagree that debate is stupid.
All it's really about is two people (or parties) with different opinions.
I think debating is good...for everyone.
It allows people to hear BOTH sides (or opinions) of a question....I don't know what's wrong with that.
We can never always agree on issues....debates allow us to say how, and why we feel as we do.
I think what the author was getting at was something the earlier philosophers (Socrates, & Plato's dialogues) were getting at as well. Plato, sometimes on behalf of Socrates, was critical of the 'Sophists'. He contrasted the desire to teach rhetoric & political persuasion (& often for a price) with the (Socratic) desire to learn & teach for the sake of knowledge itself, i.e. for its own sake.
I disagree that debate is stupid.
All it's really about is two people (or parties) with different opinions.
I think debating is good...for everyone.
It allows people to hear BOTH sides (or opinions) of a question....I don't know what's wrong with that.
We can never always agree on issues....debates allow us to say how, and why we feel as we do.
No, it's two people whose opinions are unknown, trying to make an assigned and well-known opinion sound more persuasive to the judges. Much like a trial lawyer trying to have a murderer acquitted.. Which, if he wins, serves no useful purpose. Opinions are not right or wrong depending on how eloquently they are presented.
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It depends on what "debate" means - implying that it's easy to equivocate about this.
In the noble sense, "debate" is about presenting your case in an objective, rational, and fair manner; presenting the strongest arguments and addressing the most favorable interpretation of the opponent's arguments, then letting a fair and rational audience decide who has the strongest case. Essentially, it's the same principle and spirit as properly performed science.
Unfortunately, people also use "debate" to mean "point scoring", as if the goal is not to learn something new but to simply do a slamma-jamma through the net, so to speak. That's not debate, that's more akin to a courtroom trial. The McLaughlin Group is a pre-Internet example of this (I expected better from PBS <frowns> )
Just an aside: Did you know that Barry Richard was a regisred Democrat when he represented Bush before the Florida Supreme Court in the 2000 election dispute? A classic case of arguing persuasively against your own sympathies in a debate.
Don't quite agree with everything but this article hits home, esp when it comes to endless debates and worrying about toppling opponents and naysayers (at least on online forums) rather than actually seeking out the truth.
If you are seeking out the truth, then you don't use a debate dialogue. You use persuasion dialogue in which both sides are prepared to take on the ideas of the other. Debate and persuasion use different structures, use different social skills and have different purposes. One is intended to "win" and the other seeks out the truth.
This all became an issue when the TV networks decided that ratings could be improved if they staged a debate of presidential candidates, using high school debate rules. Which was stupid.
Come to think of it --- did you ever consider just how much of your perception of things is based on what TV networks thought would improve ratings? From Mr. Ed to Storage Wars, it defines the skeleton on which our knowledge is fleshed out.
Last edited by cebuan; 12-12-2018 at 01:45 AM..
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As above, so below. Mr. Chomsky is going there as well.
