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In my experience with high school level debating (in Australia), teams were randomly assigned only one side of the argument, and each speaker spoke only once.
by hugh3 17y ago
In my experience with high school level debating (in Australia), teams were randomly assigned only one side of the argument, and each speaker spoke only once.
I never liked it at all, because I couldn't deal with the idea that I might be forced to argue something which I didn't honestly believe to be true.
Those with fewer qualms joined the debating team and mostly wound up in law. I wound up in science.
- warwick 17y agoWhenever possible, I try to debate on the side that I /don't/ believe to be true. I find that debating 'my side' of the argument is harder since I take my points as self evident and don't back them up as well. Debating the other side means that you have to consider the argument on an intellectual level, not an emotional one. I think keeping yourself intellectually honest by forcing yourself to carefully examine the arguments that you don't personally believe is great for scientists. It's also handy, because the other team tends to bring up points you're very familiar with as their arguments.