That's an assertion. Why do you think so?
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Discussion
Without open debate, the public won't be able to discern good ideas from bad. It is only in a debate that you can understand the reasoning behind an idea.
Free speech would allow for dissemination of good ideas as long as they are understood and persuasive. In days of old people stood on crates in the public square doing just that and would create huge movements.
Debate suffers from the irrational urge to support our team: right or wrong. Today there are mostly just political debates, and people rarely are mind changed from these events. One could make the argument that debate is designed to do just that; stir up the base.
Either way, it's not enough to be right. One has to be understood and persuasive.
Sometimes the purpose of debate isn't about being right. Sometimes it's about rooting out the truth regardless. I like my debates to involve putting forth the best ideas to see which ones survive.
I grow the most from debate(informal). It pushes me to check myself.
Well done. It seems there is something about debate that can be ego reducing. And I'm fine with that, at least I want to be fine with it. What I learn from debate is where the holes are in my logic so that I can gather evidence or think more thoroughly about what I've missed. Essentially, debate gives me the opportunity to become less stupid and more intelligent and sensitive to what's real.
Also,
I enjoy watching a well fought formal debate. I like the strategy of it. It stretches me, and captures my imagination.
I wish more people watched and think I'm the only one I know that watches debate for enjoyment.
I find myself being an armchair quarterback.
I'm not a fan of the academic formal debate. I want the participants to actually hold the position, and we'll Vegas in their study.
My favorite subjects are:
Theology
Freedom
Politics ( even though I reject the presuppositions of both sides)
So any of you watch formal debate?
What are your favorite subjects?
Which YouTube debates are with watching?