Debating points of view. Nothing is simply Black or White especially political promises.
Opposites can attract or repel
Basic rules of debate
Should these be necessary components for basic debating:
courtesy, unbiased views, truth, and the use of a little common sense.
They all seem to be lacking in debates these days.
Is the concept: "Either my way or the highway" - the new social perspective?
Debates are a good and wholesome way to stimulate the intellect. ? N'est-ce pas?
Well they should be.
These are, or should be, 'specific' basic rules to debates, either stated or implied.
The unanswerable question still is: Do opposites really attract?
Choosing a topic
Controversial topics are always the most interesting, but not the most productive in reaching a congenial conclusion.
The parties having the debate must be open minded and not afraid to explore different possibilities.
They must possess the ability to respect the opinions of others.
They also need to show some willingness to concede to the fact that their opponent may have a more valid point of view: instead of simply going on the defensive and attack mode.
Example:
Let's debate the words: Black and White.
Which color do you prefer? Why? (Please keep in mind this is just rhetorical).
This debate is very subjective, in that, the opinions of both views come from the reality of their individual experiences. And these views are conditioned by the personal connotation of each color in the minds of the debaters.
More simply put, the conclusions are based solely on each particular and peculiar view of what each color represents (the suggesting of a meaning of a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes) and which definitive thought is most important to either side.
These definitive thoughts are based on perceptions learned in early childhood and influenced by other people's reactions to these two colors.
Some examples of different points of view regarding "black" and "white":
1. Aesthetic view: ugly or beautiful (pleasing to the eye)
2. Puritanical view: evil versus good
3. Oppositional view: direct opposites of each other
4. Unadulterated view: contamination versus cleanliness
5. Societal view: skin color
As you can see, debates take on a mind of their own without really trying.
Topics to avoid
If you start a debate with any of the above examples (and there are many more that relate to motivation) as the sole basis for your arguments, then the debate is predestined to failure.
Open mindedness and the willingness to listen to another point of view is the only way any debate can end amicably.
If you start a debate with the sole intention of 'selling' your ideas to another person, then it is not a debate at all. It is an attempt to control another person's point of view.
Twisting words and meanings to prove a point is less than utile, or desirable, in a debate
Calling names, making innuendos, insinuations, derogatory or insulting remarks are counter productive in any civil "debate".
If you are just 'in it to win it" the contiguity of the sensibility is lost and the debate can only lead to argument.. As Kenny Rodgers sang in his song: "know when to fold up".
If one becomes frustrated from realizing that they are not being heard appropriately it is time to bring this 'debate' to a halt.
We can then simply agree to disagree and exit the debate.
Concession is not defeat
We could, in all accuracy and reality, compare this to both political and religious "debates; but there is no such thing as rationally, or logically, 'debating' either of those volatile, and emotionally disturbing topics when the entrants into the debate are totally narrow minded and without logic.
When we are brought up (indoctrinated) into any {situation} one tends to 'defend' their point of view in lieu of 'debating' it.
Somehow, to concede to another way of thinking is viewed as defeat, or traitorous, instead of progressive personal intellectual growth.
Perhaps this concept in itself is why the word "progressive" has such a negative connotation attached to it today in politics. Especially when it often times means becoming aware of a broader and more logical point of view, than those long held old conservative and stagnant beliefs.
Either way, rigid, unyielding concepts, and beliefs, are self-defeating in themselves, especially here in the real world.
by: d.william 1/22/11
Hot topics of debate
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It's a fair question: Is marijuana addictive? The answer is complicated, unfortunately. Yes and no. From a strictly physical standpoint, marijuana is really only addictive in extreme cases of heavy, prolonged use. Even then, the physical... - The Human Rights Debate - it's the only one that matters
South Africa is heading towards its fourth democratic general elections, which will be on 22 April. They are crucial elections, perhaps the most important faced by the electorate since 1994.
The same advice goes for debating - know when to guit
© 2011 d.william
