Do you have someone online that you go round and round with disagreeing about a subject? Have you ever considered doing a formal debate either in writing or livestreamed to put the matter to bed as you both lay out your very best arguments? Short back and forth online argumentation (usually while one is engaged on other daily activities) often results in shallow/rushed engagement. Discussion is great, but when two people sincerely disagree, debate is a great way for them to test the strength of their ideas and try to persuade those who are undecided on an issue to join in their point of view.
I think of debate like intellectual sparring (hence my boxing theme for my blog). If we want to see how strong our ideas are its great to test them against critique. This friction of competing ideas in the intellectual marketplace allows for growth and insight.
With that in mind, I am announcing my willingness to host debates that will have the following format.
The Resolution
A debate will be over a given "resolution" decided on by the two debaters (I.E Dogs are worse pets than cats). One will pick the affirmative position (supporting the truth of the resolution) the other will take the dissenting position (opposing the truth of the resolution). The debates can choose between a written debate where each will submit a series of small essays on the topic to be published on this blog or to schedule an in person debate hosted on my YouTube channel and moderated by myself. The following is how either would work.
Written Debate. Round 1- Opening Statements (2000 words max)
Round 2- Rebuttals to opening statements (1500 words max)
Round 3- Response to Rebuttals. (1500 Words max)
- Essays would be submitted to Jacob and then published on the blog on the same day.
- Essays may include images, links to references, etc. Google Doc format is preferred.
For an example of a written debate Click Here
Live Debate.
Round 1 - Opening statements (10 min max)
Round 2- 20 minutes for rebuttals (5 minute max per rebuttal. 1 speaker at a time)
Round 3- Closing statements (5 min max)