Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed

Basically at this point, judges, your decision comes down to which definition you prefer. I listed reasons as to why you should prefer my definition in my last speech and a couple more in this round. <> As I mentioned that this was a debate I had done previously, it wouldn't have been to hard to find the other debate and see in which direction I wanted this to go. Did it have to play out exactly like that? No (obviously, look at this one...), I was expecting someone who could debate a little more imaginatively (no offense to my previous opponent, who did a great job in creating ways in which Humpty could have been murdered). If that wasn't enough, I stated in round one "To avoid semantics..." making it clear that I wasn't looking for a semantical argument to be made. Judges, it rests in your hands. If you accept my definition, my opponent has made no claims against my contention. If you accept my opponent's definition, then continue to read because I'm going to attempt to refute my opponent's case :) My opponent describes three scenarios in which Humpty would have been 'pushed' by himself or the wind. [Wind] While a decent argument, my opponent would have to prove that 1) There was wind on the day Humpty fell and 2) Said wind was strong enough to push Humpty do his death. That aside, even with wind present, Humpty's egg design makes him aerodynamic and therefore wind would simply pass right around him... there is no surface large enough for a regular wind to create enough a drag to create a force large enough to blow Humpty over. [Kicked the Wall] I ask you the judge, to sit down on a couch or something with which you have the ability to attempt to kick the solid surface below you (much as my opponent suggests Humpty would have done). Now try to kick the 'wall' hard enough for you to fall. The only way you could possibly do this is if you were trying to press your feet into the 'wall', not kicking it! When you rest your feet against the 'wall' and push back, you naturally lean forward, this doesn't create a push, but when you lean forward far enough, gravity takes it's pull and you have a great fall, usually on your face. So we see a pull here, not a push as my opponent suggests. [Scooted Forward] Suppose Humpty had scooted forward. Now what is the method of scooting forward? My opponent suggest that it would be "budg(ing) his bottom a little too far forward." As my opponent mentions no use of hands, we can only assume that Humpty would have scooted forward by moving one cheek forward, then the other cheek forward further, creating a sort of zig-zag pattern, much the way we walk, putting one foot in front of the other. In no way is Humpty pressing against anything in order to move. Certainly he is using the wall as a (assumed) flat surface upon which to move, but that doesn't count. No push. And even if you don't like any of those explanations, please recognize that the push wouldn't be the cause of the fall. This reminds me of a (very poor) joke I once heard: How do can an egg fall 3 feet without breaking? Drop the egg from 4 feet! You see, any push that Humpty would have experienced wouldn't have been enough to cause him to fall. It would have been gravity's ultimate pull which would have sealed Humpty's fate. I'd like to propose another scenario in which Humpty could have fallen. Let's think about this. Humpty was sitting on a wall. Who sits on a wall? How do we know that this wall was sturdy enough to support Humpty's weight? We don't! The wall could have simply been too weak to withhold Mr. Dumpty's weight, the shattering the wall and bringing Humpty to his death. No push involved! Only gravity's pull. Which brings me to Newton's 3rd law of motion. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." [1] Don't think of this like the ground is pushing back. The ground is an inanimate object, and cannot push against with force in order to drive as my opponent's definition states. Instead, think of it this way: You are standing on the middle of a football field. At the 50 yard line. Glenn Dorsey, the 6'1", 297 pound defensive end [2] is going to run at you as fast as he can and absolutely crush you. What are you gonna do? If you're gonna take the hit (as the ground was forced to), you're going to brace yourself. Maybe lean forward, try to plant your back foot, and gain a little leverage. THAT is how you would 'push' back. Did you actually push? No. You failed miserably, sorry. Haha, but you get my point. At this point, judges, you can favor my definition, and therefore my contention, which stands uncontested, or you can accept my opponent's definition and see that Humpty wasn't pushed at all, only pulled upon my gravity, whether it be do to Humpty's relocation of his center of gravity, or the wall simply crumbling due to Humpty's weight. Resolution negated! --SOURCES-- [1] http://www.grc.nasa.gov... [2] http://www.kcchiefs.com...