RESOLVED: The phrase "Equal Opportunity" refers to probability, not possibility.

Pro has ignored all my core points, forcing me to repeat myself. His inability to listen to opposing viewpoints is why his arguments are weak. Pro suffers from belief bias, and this is reflected in the debate. Measuring Opportunity Pro asked, “This is the main point I have made which has not been refuted. First of all Con and I agree that an opportunity is almost the same exact thing as a possibility. The only difference is in what you focus on when using the word. But the main question is: How do you measure a possibility without referring to probability?” First off, I have stated countless times I disagree with your belief that possibility and probability is similar; you just don’t listen. As stated in my last round; Favorable circumstance / (favorable circumstances + unfavorable circumstances) = probability Favorable circumstances + unfavorable circumstances = all possibilities Favorable circumstances = quality of opportunities 0 < Favorable circumstances = 1 or more opportunity Pro said, “I was not talking about measuring the number of possibilities, or in this case “beans”. I was specifically talking about measuring a possibility, as in singular. Counting the number of beans is not the challenge I posed, measuring one single bean is. Capiche?” However pro original challenge was, “Con never measured any of these possibilities, all he did was count the number of them.” Thus I showed how counting is measuring “possibilities” (plural). If Pro wanted me to measure the quality, not the quantity, he should have said that. Both quantity and quality can be taken into consideration when measuring opportunities. Pro said, “Con is simply using the word ‘quality’ to hide behind probability. According to this statement they mean the same exact thing, all he did was use move the decimal place over and call it something else.” Well here is another example; you have a 75% chance of rain, 150 favorable circumstances, and 50 unfavorable circumstances; you have a 0.75 probability, while the quality of opportunity is 150. 75% = 0.75, 100% = 1. Pro claims, “If counting the favorable circumstances is how you measure quality then there is no difference between this and probability” That’s not true, if both people have 75 favorable circumstances, but one person has 50 unfavorable circumstances, while the other person has only 25; they have equal opportunity, but they do not have equal probability. Communication When referring to his analogy, Pro claims, “Con gave absolutely no reason why it was a red herring and apparently just expects the readers to agree because he said so.” I’m starting to think Pro didn’t bother to read my argument; in my last round I said, “’The phrase ‘Equal Opportunity’ refers to probability, not possibility.’ Equal being an adjective comparable to beautiful, while opportunity is a noun comparable to girl; the analogy is a red herring, with no relevance to the debate.” Notice the semicolon; I explained why it was a red herring before calling it a red herring, within the same sentence. Definitions (n) possibility (capability of existing or happening or being true) "there is a possibility that his sense of smell has been impaired" [1] (n) probability (a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible) "the probability that an unbiased coin will fall with the head up is 0.5" [2] (n) opportunity (a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances) "the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington" [3] Conclusion Both pro and con agree opportunity refers to possibility; pro had to prove equal opportunity refers to probability not possibility. Equal Opportunity refers to both the quality, and quantity of opportunities; I have proven that the quality of the opportunity does not equal the probability, and I have proven that the quantity of opportunities may be measured. Probability is dependent on possibility for measurement, not the other way around. I have proven that opportunity refers to possibility, and my opponent has not proven the relevance of probability to phrase equal opportunity; pro has however agreed that opportunity refers to possibility. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu...