Conduct Should Be Considered When Voting On Debates On Debate.org

What a stupid debate. I could throw a bowl of alphabet soup against a wall and get a more interesting resolution. I guess I shouldn't expect much from someone who has "aint" in his name and doesn't believe in Magic Johnson, but come on! Oh well, time to flush hours of my life down the toilet of another pointless debate. Arguments 1. Debate Quality The quality of a debate encompasses many factors, including how well the contents are written, how well it is structured, and how concise and composed the participants are. Poorly written arguments, bad formatting and structuring, excess wordiness, and poor conduct can all negatively affect the debate quality. One poor debater can negatively impact the quality of a debate, even if his opponent does everything well. For multiple examples of this sad fact, please see the debates of MagicAintReal.[1] Debate quality is important. Nobody wants to spend precious time carefully considering the philosophical musings of two shitt-diapered toddlers screaming at each other over a stolen cheerio. Voters are already taking time out of their days and schedules to read the crap that somebody else wrote in the hopes that it's somewhat entertaining and coherent. The higher the debate quality, the higher the likelihood of someone taking time to read it, and the higher the likelihood of getting more votes from a variety of judges. WHO THE H-E-DOUBLEHOCKEYSTICK HAS THE TIME OR PATIENCE TO READ AN EYE-SORE OF A DEBATE THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS WRITTEN BY BRAIN-DAMAGED CALL OF DUTY BRATS?!!!! WHO WANTS TO READ A DEBATE THAT'S HALF ARGUMENTS, HALF INSULTS, AND HALF CHALLENGES TO "COME TO MY HOUSE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU FUKING TOOL, I'LL PWN YOUR A$$!!!!"? WHO WANTS TO READ AN ARGUMENT, NO MATTER HOW VALID THE LOGIC, IF THE LOGIC IS FRAMED IN PARAGRAPHS OF BRAGGADOCIO AND AD HOMINEM? IF YOUR ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS IS, "NOT ME", YOU SHOULDN'T READ ANY OF MY OPPONENT'S ARGUMENTS. In order to maintain a higher number of quality debates on DDO, good conduct should be encouraged. What better way to encourage it than to award a point for it? Of course all this shiitake is common knowledge, but I have to waste my precious fooking time regurgitating it for this pizzashit debate because my opponent is one smart short of a smarta$$. 2. Objectivity All of the members of DDO are human (except for Con, who is a species of autosexual worm), but a good voter will try to be as objective as possible when considering a debate's arguments. A good voter will try to be unbiased, weighing arguments for their validity and logic, rather than their emotional impact or appeal. Judging a debate is not about feeling. It's about thinking. Needless to say, Con wouldn't be good at it. Objectivity can become more difficult, however, when the debate's participants are intentionally offensive, insulting, annoying, or the combination of all three that is my opponent. A typically good voter may have trouble keeping their emotions in check, and may feel tempted to slant their vote against the annoying or insulting debater, or may avoid voting at all because of the difficulty of remaining unbiased. Words are emotionally powerful, and verbal abuse can even damage the brain.[2] Anyone who knows my opponent can attest that brain damage is crippling and tragic. Whether Con has suffered much verbal abuse is unknown to me, but I suspect that he has. If a judge's brain is being attacked by abusive language, it may be harder to remain emotionally detached and objective. In order to make objectivity easier and improve the quality of votes, DDO should continue to encourage good conduct and sportsmanship through conduct points. Joke Break An old man needed a sperm count as part of his physical exam. The doctor gave him a jar and said, "Take this home and bring back a semen sample tomorrow." The next day, the old man brought back the jar, which was as clean and empty as on the previous day. The doctor asked what happened. "Well, doc, it's like this--first I tried with my right hand, but nothing. Then I tried with my left hand, but still nothing. Then I asked my wife for help. She tried with her right hand, then with her left, still nothing. She tried with her mouth, first with her teeth in, then with her teeth out, still nothing. We even called up Arleen, the lady next door, and she tried too, first with both hands, then her mouth, then an armpit. She even tried squeezing it between her knees, but still nothing." The doctor was bewildered "You asked your neighbor?" The old man replied, "Yep, none of us could get the jar open." 3. Environment This point goes right along with the others, like peanut butter goes with jelly, or like my opponent goes with geriatric midget dungeon porn. Encouraging good conduct and sportsmanship helps to maintain an online environment where people feel safer, are more relaxed, and have more fun. Cyber bullying is detrimental to the growth and prosperity of an online community, and punishing poor conduct through votes helps keep bad attitudes in check while allowing the community to be "adults" and police themselves, rather than running to a moderator with every perceived infraction. As a site that is built on debate, DDO needs a healthy, growing pool of intelligent debaters. The hostile environment that unchecked poor conduct and sportsmanship would create could prevent new members from joining, and even drive away existing members. Although it would be fine with everyone if it drove away members such as my opponent, there are intelligent members that are actually valuable to the site. Down-voting poor conduct gives those members a way to "officially disapprove", and fight back against the formation of a hostile environment. Summary Quality debates, objective votes, and a safe environment are necessary to the success of a debate site like DDO. I hope everyone can see by now how utterly hopeless my opponent's case is. He should back out now, while he still has the chance to save face. On the other hand, is a face like that really worth saving? It looks like it caught fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork.And now, boobs. [1]http://www.debate.org... [2]https://www.psychologytoday.com...