The Sky is Blue.

I am simply stating NASA as a source for my information, as NASA is a widely - relied on source of scientific observations and information. Aguma should keep in mind that I agreed to accept "The sky is blue most of the time" as the topic for debate in addition to mine, which was "My side defines this topic as how the human mind interprets the colour of the sky." Aguma has only mentioned two sources and NO links to them, therefore there is no way for the audience nor myself to validate his evidence. I ask, once more, that he please provide a link to the site(s) he has gotten all of his information from. Aguma says there are currently 14 hours of nighttime, where he lives, according to Google. Well, adults (keep in mind that children need EVEN MORE) need an average of 8.1 hours of sleep [1]. Let's do some math. 14-8.1=5.9. That means that right now, the average adult LIVING IN HIS AREA sees 5.9 hours of darkness and 10 hours of light, and blue sky - another reason that humans interpret the sky as blue. Furthermore, the average year round daylight is exactly 12 hours - this is the long night time of the year, where aguma is. So that's 12 hours to see the sky. Well, the math to determine exactly how much daylight we have to see the sky is 24 (total hours)-12 (night hours)=12 (hours to see the sky). 12 (night hours)-8.1 (adult sleep hours, children's hours greater)=3.9 (hours of night). This is the common, subconscious interpretation that humans make – we see more of the blue sky than any other colour. Therefore, currently aguma’s time would be right, but in the face of the rest of the year and how much we humans are actually awake, he is incorrect. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please allow me to summarize this debate, so far. From the very beginning, I stated: "My side defines this topic as how the human mind interprets the colour of the sky." 1) In his first contention, my opponent stated: "Sunsets. Night. I rest my case." I replied with: “Well, nights and sunsets can be blue, too [2] [3]!”, plus I provided pictures in which nights and sunsets are blue. 2) I also stated: “The science of it - The truth is, the sky is all colours of the rainbow [4]. Blue is the colour that is scattered the most, therefore that is what our eyes see [4]. More importantly, that is how our minds interpret it, thus proving my case.” 3) Next, aguma said: “is = to be. Not, "was at one point in time". Rather, "exists in this state", i.e. at the current time. But if the motion is defined in this way then this debate is ridiculous. Therefore this debate can only make sense if it is: "The sky is blue most of the time". Therefore this is what I'll be arguing.” I accepted this as the topic, in addition to my earlier “My side defines this topic as how the human mind interprets the colour of the sky.” 4) After that, my opponent claimed: “nights last 12 hours at least, plus fog and sunsets WHICH ARE RED MOST OF THE TIME makes the sky not blue more than 50% of the time”. Once again, no source, and I have refuted this earlier in this post. 5) “SKIES ON OTHER PLANETS - sky and telescope: most common stars are small stars, meaning the matter that went into that solar system's creation was less; therefore the planets are smaller and less likely to hold an atmosphere and the sky is black. This is what occurs on most extrasolar planets. Source: Scientific American.” A source, but no direct link to it – therefore, as stated before, “there is no way for the audience nor myself to validate your evidence.” I refuted this: “Earlier in this debate, I stated, "My side defines this topic as how the human mind interprets the colour of the sky." According to dictonary.com, "sky" means "the region of the clouds or the upper air; the upper atmosphere of the earth" [5]. This is the definition I will use, thus rendering my opponent's second point irrelevant. Also, if my opponent is going to talk about the creation of the solar system as such, we might as well take into account all of the planets in existence, which we can't. Therefore any statistics only applying to our solar system are not necessarily accurate and applicable to all of the atmospheres in the universe.” 6) After this, aguma said: “The truth is, the sky is all colours of the rainbow. Sunsets are red and yellow. Fog is gray. Night is black. More importantly, that is how our minds interpret it, thus proving my case.” And again! How long must we wait, audience, for a proper source from my opponent? I refuted this: “NASA says the sky is all colours, but mainly blue [6]. The Martian sky is BLUE, NASA's pictures are exaggerated: having been colour-corrected they are indeed BLUE [7]. 7) And finally, the last point so far: “the sky is blue" is a generalization just like "george washington was a hero" or "books are made of paper". George Washington wasn't a hero all the time. But he did enough heroic acts to make us remember him as a hero. Books aren't always made out of paper. But they are traditionally. Similarly, when NASA says the sky is mainly blue, they mean that that is what we normally think of when we think of the sky. That does not mean that just because NASA made a generalization, that we should interpret it literally. In fact, it just so happens that google weather says the sun will set at 5:18 PM today (where I live at least), and rise at 7:20 AM. That's around 14 hours of nighttime, i.e. the sky is not blue because the sun is not there to scatter any light, i.e. the sky is black. 14 hours of night, 10 hours of day. In other words, more than half of the day, the sky is not blue.” This, too, has been refuted: “Aguma says there are currently 14 hours of nighttime, where he lives, according to Google. Well, adults (keep in mind that children need EVEN MORE) need an average of 8.1 hours of sleep [1]. Let's do some math. 14-8.1=5.9. That means that right now, the average adult LIVING IN HIS AREA sees 5.9 hours of darkness and 10 hours of light, and blue sky - another reason that humans interpret the sky as blue. “Furthermore, the average year round daylight is exactly 12 hours - this is the long night time of the year, where aguma is. So that's 12 hours to see the sky. Well, the math to determine exactly how much daylight we have to see the sky is 24 (total hours)-12 (night hours)=12 (hours to see the sky). 12 (night hours)-8.1 (adult sleep hours, children's hours greater)=3.9 (hours of night). This is the common, subconscious interpretation that humans make – we see more of the blue sky than any other colour. Therefore, currently aguma’s time would be right, but in the face of the rest of the year and how much we humans are actually awake, he is incorrect.” Source(s): 1. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk... 2. http://mdb7.ibibo.com... 3. http://fineartamerica.com... 4. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov... 5. http://dictionary.reference.com... 6. http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov... 7. http://mars-news.de... Oh, and thank you, aguma, for suggesting and accepting this debate. Although a bit more intense than intended, I enjoyed it. And thank you, audience, for moderating and making this a complete debate. Audience, I have refuted, rendered irrelevant, and disproved ALL of my opponent’s point, thus revealing that humans see the sky as blue. For all of these reasons and many more, please vote for the Proposition (Pro).