The only one in a room
Instapundit has a quick post about civility in public debate. How, people used to be able to argue with others and still be friends afterwards. I have a similar issue. Being the only Libertarian in a room, I am often the recipient of one-on-many arguments and fare quite well. Here are my rules of arguing / debate:
- Keep your tone level and measured
- Don’t insult others or call names
- Listen, actually listen (this is the hardest one) to other’s arguments and then wait to respond (not my strongest ability)
- Respond, be articulate, rational and respectful
- Smile (a lot) – keep it friendly
That is it, pretty simple overall. Also, I like to think I have a better chance to convince others than yelling at them, though who knows…
Thanks for posting this. I have the problem of becoming stressed out when debating. I forget my points. That is why I prefer the internet; I can go over my point and make sure I am not forgetting something important. But…. I KNOW I really need to get better at “talking liberty”.
kentmcmanigal
24 Nov 08 at 8:18 pm
Great post, good list of the right things to do. Debate is arguing without emotion. Good debate is arguing articulately and rationally with well thought out and well researched points. Great debate is debate where both people are open to learning something new, and even being willing to re-examine their own positions in light of new evidence. Too often debates are just arguments, because people get passion and earnestness confused with emotion, or worse, it becomes a matter of pride and the argument is about winning, not learning or finding what is correct and right. If you find you are wrong, or even simply outmatched by a more knowledgeable opponent, it is not a slight on you, nor is it a slight on them if you “win”. That should never be the point of a debate. Debate is helped me to adjust my position to a more correct one, and it has helped me to strengthen it for future debates.
It is much easier to keep things civil and emotionless and objective with internet debate. It is also easier to find evidence for a point, rather than having to recall it. There is something to be said for live debate though, it helps you learn to think faster and to understand tactics of debate that may or may not have anything to do with the points being made.
limberwulf
26 Nov 08 at 12:15 pm
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Libertarianism: a Blog » Great thoughts on Debate
26 Nov 08 at 12:29 pm