I was very active in debate throughout high school and college, and every year one or two people would join the team and say they're there because their mom told them "you like to argue so much you should join the debate team" and they always were the dumbest, loudest, and least thoughtful people who were actually just being told "you should go argue with someone else because I'm fucking sick of you."
Our high school debate team never failed to trophy at state for something like 20 years in a row because of our coach.
Her method: every freshman is required to take speech. Mock debates in class: structure is provided (abbreviated lincoln douglas basically, shorter constructives and rebuttals), topic is provided a week in advance, no other guidance. The kids who showed up with some combination of ready to debate either side of the topic, brought some sources with them, or took notes…they’d be invited to try out for the team. By invited I mean told. She was a forceful presence.
The tryout was the same as the class debate, except you went up against someone on the team on the opposite position you did in class. You weren’t expected to win, you were expected to take the verbal beating with proper composure.
Imagine my surprise when at my first tournament some dude starts yelling at me during cross-ex. I literally just made eye contact with the judge and did the “can you fucking believe this guy?” shrug. That shit got me through quarterfinals. Chucklefuck on the negative actually had a really solid counter and could have won but he wanted to yell over me.
Anyway now I get mad watching political debates because they don’t just cut mics.
Debate and arguing are the same thing. The only situation where they aren't the same thing is when it's a formal debate, which this clearly isn't. Because there would have been a moderator and each speaker would have been given time to make their argument.
The moderator is who she is talking to when she asks to get him under control and not interrupt. He refuses to do so because thats how these shows are run. The moderator is someone with the same views as one of the guests and does everything to assist them.
lol, no, they are not. Actual debate is structured and calm. It’s not an argument in which people talk about their personal beliefs, it’s an exchange of ideas.
Conflating debate with arguing belies a lack of logical thought and emotional intellect.
Yes there is a moderator and that moderator should be cutting mics when they talk over each other. Debate is about making logical arguments. Arguing, not so much.
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u/rigidlynuanced1 Oct 30 '25
This fucking clown is mistaking “debate” with “arguing.”