Debating is good for you!

I. As you viewers can see, my opponent suggests that uniqueness (in the context of a debate of course) is important and therefore applicable to this debate. The issue with this is that this isn't a policy debate, making the use of uniqueness inapplicable to this debate since we are not discussing policy, but whether debating is beneficial or not. According to James Kellams, author of the blog Everyday Debate, "uniqueness, in policy debate terminology, is the current situation that will be uniquely altered by enacting the plan. " [1] In other words my opponent and I are not discussing whether or not to enact a plan, but if debating is beneficial or not. II. Organized Debate is not just about Victory In Part A of my opponent's previous response, he explained that debaters likely do not have a strong conviction for the opposing side. In reality, any professional debater would know that the opposing viewpoint is just as important as his own. He or she must know statistics, studies, evidence, etc. that contradicts what they believe in. Without this knowledge, the debater will likely get caught off guard and will not know how to respond. Exploring these opposing viewpoints can widen one's horizons, and get them to see things in a way the debater never thought of before. The goal may be to win, but a debater will never be successful if he does not absorb as much accurate information that he or she can. For example, if I were to debate that climate change is a reality (I agree with my opponent that climate change is true, as it is factually proven), I would need to know how it's caused, the science behind it, and most importantly: why my opponent would deny it, as well the "evidence" behind his argument. Lastly, your statement, "when debating you don't want to learn, you just want to win," is a generalization. There are no statistics I know of supporting that statement that debaters don't wish to learn, and I myself debate to learn and make new friends (I'm sure many people share this sentiment); myself and many others see victory as a secondary benefit of debating. III. My argument on Unorganized Debate and Political Debate Many of the contender's statements about unorganized debate are true, such as: the objective is typically to persuade the opponent, many people do reject new information, etc. I would like to clarify that just because many people dislike new information, does not mean that debate as a form of communication is bad. The failure to obtain new knowledge from unorganized debates is typically due to the mediocrity of some casual debaters. Another generalization my good opponent made is, "therefore, in unorganized debate, pursuit of knowledge is not the reality. " As I previously said, this is the case in many examples, but in many more the pursuit is to get a new perspective as well as information. Again, I have never seen a statistic stating that most debaters (casual or not) reject new knowledge. I was going to make a separate section for political debate, but I find that many of the same principles apply. As you guys have learned from this section, it is the person that makes the debate, meaning that you may not get the benefits of debate if you debate with a casual or ignorant debater. Back to the climate change example, if I debated with a Republican about climate change, I would gain nothing from the debate due to his ignorance on the matter. If I debated with a Democrat or scientist about climate change however, I would gain valuable information and the effect it has on my life. Another incorrect statement is at the end of my opponent's view on political debate, "debate hinders communication. " Studies have found the opposite actually. In a document titled "The Benefits of Debate", the producer explained, "Debate students excel in written and oral communication, and greatly improve their reading comprehension (sometimes 25% more than their peers). [2] IV. Discussion vs Debate In terms of comparing negatives and positives, both discussion and debate are equally great. As my opponent and I have agreed, both forms of communication have similar positive effects on those who participate in them. Earlier, I mentioned that a mediocre debater can really change a debate for the worse. The same logic definitely applies to discussion. If I were to have a discussion with a Republican about global warming, I would gain nothing from said conversation, just like if I were to debate with him. Just because it is possible to have a terrible intellectual discussion with someone does not mean that intellectual discussion as a way of communication is poor. This same idea is also applicable to debate. Remember, just like debate, it is the person that creates the conversation. It is not the other way around. V. In defense of my R2 Source and Conclusive Statement Even if the statistics were inflated (I would definitely appreciate a reason for this claim), there are many more statements from other sources that explain how beneficial debating can really be. I would also like a source that backs up your point that few poor students join debate, and that students of lesser academic success are less likely to participate in debate. Furthermore, debaters scoring higher than their counterparts is definitely not marginal evidence. Debating helped those students by promoting critical thinking and analysis. There have also been other studies conducted that prove how debate is academically beneficial. A study conducted by K. D. Barfield (1989) had three hundred students take the SAT-7. Half of the students participated in debating regularly, while the other half didn't. As you may expect, the debaters averaged higher than their counterparts. According to the author, "he (Barfield) also found a correlation between active participation in a highly competitive interscholastic debate program and increase in student GPA. " [3] In conclusion there is no doubt that debate helps communication, spreads valuable information, challenges any bias and prejudice, encourages critical thinking, and encourages analysis. Intellectual discussion is just as great, but does not render debate obsolete or unnecessary. I look forward to my opponent's response, and I thank everyone for reading this! Thank you warren42, now back to you. [1] . http://everydaydebate.blogspot.com... [2] . https://www.communicationacademy.com... [3] . http://www.capitoldebate.com...