JOKE LD - Moral Obligation and the "Tickle Cream of Death"

My value in today’s debate will be knowledge, which is defined by Oxford Dictionary1 as, “facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject”. The reason we need to value knowledge is because of the importance to turn around negative situations; as is dictated by the intellectual giant Kelly Clarkson, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”2 (reference time 1:49 for maximum impact). Her clear message is to take negative situations and learn from them to be stronger individual. This is achieved through today’s criterion, socialization of proper behavior. Socialization is a psychology term that refers to, “the process whereby an individual learns to adjust to a group (or society) and behave in a manner approved by the group (or society)”3. Criterion Justification (CJ) 1 – This more realistically narrows our focus to knowledge as “knowing how”. There are many different kinds of knowledge that one can acquire; however, as socialization focuses on teaching behaviors this constricts our view of knowledge down to what was described by Gilbert Ryle as knowing-how4. Thus we see that through socialization we are upholding our value of knowledge by teaching new behaviors and encourage growth of “knowing-how knowledge”. CJ 2 – Teaching Proper Behavior Saves us From Over Reaction. Since socialization strives to teach us the culturally-accepted behaviors and responses, encouraging this saves us from over reacting. This brings us to also an important observation on the resolution, while still a “prank move”, the Tickle Cream of Death has substantially less negative impact than the Royal Shampoo that Tricia originally encountered. This means by encouraging a socialized reaction, we are avoiding a 100% proportional reaction, saving us from encountering Gandhi’s great, “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind”. CJ 3 – Socialization is the Best Way to Learn Cultural Behaviors. This is where we arrive most fundamentally at the moral obligation laid out in today’s resolution. The reason that Tricia has a moral obligation to respond to her friends with the Tickle Cream of Death is because it best allows for the propagation of culturally important behaviors. Since it is important the Tricia has the knowledge to properly engage in society, she has a moral obligation to respond in a way that teaches her needed skills. Having now built approximately 2,435 characters of a mean framework, I shall now go on to establish my contentions for today’s debate. 1. The Laws of Physics a) Newton’s Third Law Dictates that Tricia Must do Something Newton’s Third Law clearly explains that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction5. Therefore, in any given situation, when one action is taken there must be a reaction. Thus, we see that Tricia must do something – though that something could be making the decision to not respond – and as such we must pick the action that will be most beneficial to her. Now, as stated in my CJ 2, Tricia’s friends’ use of the Royal Shampoo generates considerable negative energy. Since Newton’s Third Law dictates that the reaction must be equal and opposite, it may seem reasonable to conclude that Tricia must do something that generates the same amount of negative energy back towards them. This brings us to our next subpoint. b) Conservation of Energy6 While all the energy from the original action of Tricia’s friends must be conserved, as energy (like matter) can neither be created or destroyed, it is important to consider that it can be converted. Therefore, Tricia can convert her friend’s negative energy that targeted her into positive social energy and so her reaction still abides by the laws of physics, and makes the best use of the original input of negative energy. The creation of positive social energy is outlined in the following contention. 2) The “Tickle Cream of Death” is a Socially Preferred Reaction a) It’s an Appropriate Way to Assert Oneself As a society we have become incredibly sensitive to teasing and are incredibly watchful for bullies; however, due to our sensitivity we are letting the potential positive effects of teasing fall to the way side. Teasing actually has many social benefits, as Boston College Professor, Dr. Peter Gray, outlines7. As Gray illustrates through the real world example of a girl who was teased for being on free lunch, responding in a way that shows people you are willing to engage them and that you don’t take their prior “tease” (or in Tricia’s case, their prior prank) seriously can actually elevate their social status. Therefore, for Tricia being willing to respond in a friendly prank would be a proper way to assert herself. b) Keeps From Having Friendship Disintegrate The use of the Tickle Cream of Death could actually be used to strengthen Tricia’s friendships. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a children’s show that focuses on teaching crucial messages about friendship and how it operates. Looking to Season 1 Episode 5 “Griffon the Brush-Off”8, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash illustrate how “pranking” can be used to help develop a stronger bond. Upon learning that Pinkie Pie likes pulling jokes on other people, Rainbow Dash is able to acknowledge that they have things in common. Later on in the episode (6:42) Pinkie Pie is able to prank Rainbow Dash, but she takes in good nature. However, Gilda the Griffon, Rainbow Dash’s old friend, is never able to take a prank in good nature. The show ends with Gilda and Rainbow Dash’s friendship falling apart as Rainbow Dash realizes Gilda can’t put up with a joke. However, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are able to still get along, and end up pranking each other at the same time and laughing about it. This episode illustrates how responding in the socially correct manner can allow you to deepen your friendship, whereas being oversensitive to pranks results in you loosing friendships. Ultimately, we see that Tricia has a moral obligation to use the Tickle Cream of Death on her friends because it will strengthen her relationships by socializing her and teaching her the correct way to respond to a friendly prank. By doing this, Tricia will become better prepared for future interactions with her friends. Ultimately she will increase her “knowing how knowledge” of knowing how to react in such a situation, and that is why I see nothing but an affirmative ballot in today’s debate. Sources 1 – http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... 2 - 3 - http://www.britannica.com... 4 - http://www.iep.utm.edu... 5 - http://img.chogger.com... 6 - http://chemconnections.org... 7 - http://www.psychologytoday.com... 8 - http://www.dailymotion.com...