: I agree completely. In debate one must consider the burden of proof. Knowing something to be right is not enough. Ad-hominem and ad-miseracordial arguments count for nothing.Cheers.
: I debate because I find it to be a wonderful intellectual excercise. It forces you to recognize and opponents position and to refute it. It teaches you to see through arguments and find their flaws.
And, what I consider more important, it exposes the the flaws in your own arguments and allows you to construct a more air tight view, it also, provided it can be carried out without hatred etc., has convinced me that a whole spectrum of views are LEGITIMATE, the problem with contemporary politics is that they dont suggest people are in disagreement but that these people are ILLEGITIMATE and we are LEGITIMATE and then ferments distrust etc.
From there, free politics having effectively ceased, it is a small step to anti-democratic sentiment and totalitarian religiousity. The sort that typified the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
: It seems that lately on this board the standard has gone down quite a bit. Maybe it is because people are getting tired or reiterating their old arguments or tensions are just running high.
Well, what has passed itself of as debate simply isnt debate at all in my opinion. It is libel and defamation the continuous stream of allegations of violence etc. that doesnt serve debate at all but reflects closed mindedness, singularity of purpose and fanaticism.
In and of itself it's harmed no one but it isnt very interesting.
:Regardless of the reason, I hope that this debate will reach a greater level of civility, integrity, and most of all, rationality.
So do I comrade.
None.
