Idiotic High School Debate at 350 words per minute
First, read this article:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/01/ff_debateteam/
Look at the pictures. Watch the movie. Then come on back.
Yeah...
That was completely ridiculous. I spent a lot of my High School career debating. I did a little extemp, but mostly Lincoln Douglas. I was captain of my HS team (one of the best teams in the country) for three years, and I never placed lower than 3rd in a LD debate as a junior or senior, and won the CT state tournament.
But this policy debate? WTF. The rules say that anything you state which is not refuted is taken as fact. What a completely ridiculous system.
The beauty of debate is that it is an argument with rules, and a judge. There is a winner. You get to argue, and you get to win. It is a fantastic feeling. I mean think about it, at the end of a long and intense argument, you get to be called the winner. That's it, end of game, no more snarky comments or grey areas, its over, and you won.
Instead, this "policy" debate is more of a training school for auctioneers and the guys who read warning labels at the end of commercials.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/01/ff_debateteam/
Look at the pictures. Watch the movie. Then come on back.
Yeah...
That was completely ridiculous. I spent a lot of my High School career debating. I did a little extemp, but mostly Lincoln Douglas. I was captain of my HS team (one of the best teams in the country) for three years, and I never placed lower than 3rd in a LD debate as a junior or senior, and won the CT state tournament.
But this policy debate? WTF. The rules say that anything you state which is not refuted is taken as fact. What a completely ridiculous system.
The beauty of debate is that it is an argument with rules, and a judge. There is a winner. You get to argue, and you get to win. It is a fantastic feeling. I mean think about it, at the end of a long and intense argument, you get to be called the winner. That's it, end of game, no more snarky comments or grey areas, its over, and you won.
Instead, this "policy" debate is more of a training school for auctioneers and the guys who read warning labels at the end of commercials.
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