what is the point of debates? - Page 2

Now for the opposing view:

Debating is a worthless exercise for the following reasons:

1. It serves no purpose other than throw up a lot of heat and dust eg. scenes in the true home of living democracy - the Indian Parliament;

2. It hardens the other's mind and forces non-acceptance of the opposing ideas just for the heck of it eg. UN vs George W. Bush;

3. Even of any sort of consensus is reached, there is no assurance that it will be backed by action - ergo waste of time eg. the Mogadishu fiasco during the Somalian civil war;

4. Never in world history have the real tricky issues been sorted out by debate. War and conflict has been the only real and acceptable solution eg Kauravs vs Pandavas, Rome vs everybody else, Church vs Galileo and Hitler vs the Human Race.

Hmmmmmmmmmm

I just think it's fun and it gives me the chance to understand my opponent a little better. Who knows, maybe his/her viewpoints would change the way I think and change my future?

Being informed on the issues requires that we become acquainted with alternative points of view.But constructive debating is an art.
I feel the following points can be considered while debating
1. Avoid use of terms which can be interpreted differently by different readers.in a debate, we are talking to people who substantially disagree with us and they are likely to put a different interpretation on such words.
2.In my opinion,Quoting an authority is not evidence. Quoting a majority opinion is not evidence.

3.Avoid emotionally charged words--words that are likely to produce more heat than light. Certainly the racial, ethnic, or religious hate words have no place in rational debating.

4.Personal attacks on your opponent are an admission of intellectual bankruptcy.

5.Be sure of your facts.

6.Understand your opponents' arguments.

7.attack the the arguement and not the arguer

A debate is more fun and challenging when you argue for something you dont really believe in. I know that sounds fake but I feel nothing puts your own skill to test than when you contradict your own convictions 😉

Originally posted by: Aparna_BD

cool topic . For me Jatayu summed it up , i have nothing to add !! 😛

same here😆😊

the point of debates is to raise an issue that you think can lead to a reasonable conversation that is logical.

shouldn't have used to many words, my brain's hurting 😆

I apologise for this interesting topic was locked with out any reason.

People often take debates in a negative light, but Debates are actually healthy...that's if you handle them with maturity. People have to be open-minded or receptive to other ideas or else, debates turn more in to war-zone. I have noticed many times that people become defensive and it becomes an ego issue. People can use these dabates as an opportunity to learn. Give other person at least one chance..Also you should not debate with little knowldge- A small amount of knowledge can cause people to think they are more expert than they really are. This is true in the case of religion. How do people argue over religion without knowing the other side? I get surprised when people constantly argue with me about religion and they have no clue about my religion or any other..They are arguing over the facts fed to them by their priests and parents. They themselves never took time out to learn other realities or existence of TRUTH.

Quote
First used by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) - An Essay on Criticism, 1709:

"A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again."

hey mkzara! i came bak to dm after a few days and wanted to post the same topic!! i cudtn believe it! anyway its someting i wanted to reallly discuss...i think the point of debating is basically like u said to open up our minds and i think to extend our areas of thought...debating helps us being less biased with our own opinions and makes us see sense in what other ppl are trying to say..all in all debating helps us widen our horizons and help us open our minds to new ideas and new lines of thought...

very good topic 👏

I think debates are important because you get to see other people's point of view there opinion on things more than one answer to a question.