Debate Class:
I really wish kids could take Debate Class in schools today.
A list of rules, procedures and videos on how to Debate Constructively.
And Debates we need to Stop Having
A list of rules, procedures and videos on how to Debate Constructively.
And Debates we need to Stop Having
How to Debate:
- Focus on the Differences in opinion/
- Work towards a conclusion/
- Research things, and bring facts to support your argument.
- Don't repeat yourself.
- Proofread your work.
- Don't say things the person already agrees with.
- Admit when you're found wrong
Nonsense sentences you should just Stop Using:
They are nothing to the conversation
- "In my opinion" -- No shit, I thought you were speaking for the queen.
- "Honestly" -- Like you would tell me you're lying
- "It is what is it" -- Just Nonsense.
- "As a woman/man/mother/father etc" -- Unless you have some professional credentials to tout, your perspective is unnecessary, yet still obvious.
- Use Terms "Sheeple", "Troll", "Duh", "Listen", etc.
Debate Rules:
- Start with a Human Connection
- Identify 3 Things you Agree on
- It is OK to say: "I Don't know", "Oops", and "You're Right"
- Encourage Self Critiques
- Ask Questions
- Provide Sources
- Avoid Labels & Generalizations
- Find Common Ground
- Keep your thoughts simple, and separated. Ideally 60 words of less.
- Admit when your opponent has a point.
- If you don't understand, ask politely for clarification.
- The burden of proof is on the person who brings up the idea.
- You cannot require proof of a negative.
- When discrediting a person / source, establish a pattern of misinformation.
- If calling a statement untrue, Immediately provide supporting evidence.
Encourage the use of phrase such as:
- "I Don't know",
- "Oops",
- "Good Point",
- "You're Right", and
- "Lets Look that up".
Each statement your opponent makes should be:
- Agreed to, or
- Partially-agreed to, or
- Added to ("Yes, But", "And"), or
- Discredited by providing your own evidence.
Never:
- Screenshot sources when links are easily available.
- Deflect, Degrade, Distract or Repeat Yourself.
- Insult a person or idea. Use Logic.
- Assume what another person knows or doesn't know.
- Use Personal Anecdotes over statistics.
- Speak in All caps. Limit Exclamation Marks.
- Call a point of view invalid. Contradict it with your own.
Debate Techniques:
Talk to the Elephant / Rhetoric:
- Ethos/Credibility: Personality, Reputation, Trustworthy.
- Pathos/Emotion: Identity, Self Interest, Sentiments, Humour.
- Logos/Logic: Reasonable Claim, Support with Statistics, Concession.
Talk to the Elephant
Give up Debating if:
- You don't bring your own references
- You don't read the other party's references
- You are quoted, contradicting your own argument later in the conversation
Videos:
War on Science
Debate Rules
Fact checking online
Memes:
Sometimes Memes can have a place in debate. However, use them sparingly.
Debates we need to Stop Having:
- Global Warming/Climate change
- Vaccines do NOT lead to Autism
- Evolution
- Everybody is Equal
- Prohibition (of Anything) Does Not Work
- Horoscopes
- Torture: Wrong
- Reproductive Rights / Abortion
- Gender Stereotypes/ Roles
And the most controversial at all:
- All Religious Texts were written by People, to control the uneducated-masses during the Bronze Age
Terrorists Getting Citizenship:
- He was ALREADY a citizen. it says it right in the article.
- There is a U.N. Convention on Statelessness.
Nearly every country has signed it, (obviously including Canada).
You can't take away someone's citizenship, without a new country accepting them.
Even the worst of the worst.
http://www.unhcr.org/un-conventions-on-statelessness.html - Just because he is a Canadian doesn't mean he wont be punished just as much as he wasn't.
- The alternative is to deny him citizenship, and send him back to wherever he was born, and they could release him! Keep him here, locked up for life, rather than trust some crappy country to do it.
- There are lots of horrible people with Canadian citizenship, in prison for life.
- He got a LIFE sentence. He won't get out.
