1/9 As a recovering hot-shot high-schl debater, I can tell you this essay's critique is spot on but its prescription misses the point: is.gd/EGPxys.
Debate teaches a cynical relativism: one belief is no better than another b/c any can be defended if you're clever...
Debate teaches a cynical relativism: one belief is no better than another b/c any can be defended if you're clever...
2/9 A premium is placed on not having any convictions because that could interfere with your ability to win on both sides of the issue. Plus, the goal is not to be right but to SOUND persuasive and/or to talk so fast that an opponent can't respond to all of your arguments...
3/9 But the problem isn't a function of the specific rules of interscholastic debate; it's that the ultimate goal is to win. Whenever that's true, other goals (e.g., learning, finding the truth) will be sacrificed. Thus, a replacement activity like the authors' "Ethics Bowl"...
4/9 ...where the rules are tweaked to try to promote more thoughtfulness, exemplifies what debaters call a "minor repair." If it's still a contest, the goal of winning inevitably eclipses more meaningful values. (I made that argument at book length: is.gd/kkTiEM)...
5/9 ...Spirited disagreement is great, by the way, but it can be productive only in the absence of competition.
Interestingly, the same section of the NYT that featured that article about debate included another essay that cogently argued we should stop telling women to be...
Interestingly, the same section of the NYT that featured that article about debate included another essay that cogently argued we should stop telling women to be...
6/9 ...more assertive or less apologetic, and focus instead on how men are often too assertive and insufficiently apologetic (is.gd/jGqenc). To which I would add: Stop teaching women to be more competitive and start teaching men to be less so.
7/9 By the way, I'm not kidding when I describe myself as a recovering debater. The more tournaments I won, the harder it became for me to appreciate debate’s damaging effects - how corrosive it is to authentic intellectual inquiry and to character...
8/9 Debate taught me to regard all conversations as a chance to score points & to never admit that I didn't know the answer. It took years before I could shake off my forensics training and say - to anyone, about anything - "Huh. That's a good point. I never thought of that"...
9/9 Sometimes I wonder what became of the kids I debated against - how many just segued into being trial attorneys, how many ever discovered that the ability to think logically & speak fluently need not be developed - or used - in an adversarial context.
