BLOG #2
For 211 E, F, and N

Date Posted: Wed, September 10
Deadline: Saturday, September 13, On or Before 6pm

Last time I asked you to give me seven reasons why people debate (or should debate). I am impressed with your output, and I hope the next entry will be equally good.

Blog # 2 will require you to provide a brief rebuttal of each reason you provided earlier. Say, if your argument (reason) discusses how debate fosters critical thinking, show how this argument is flawed, illogical, irrelevant or pointless. Two to four sentences per rebuttal.

Examples:
1
Reason: Debate fosters critical thinking.
Rebuttal: Most debaters usually just "pirate" their arguments online. They regurgitate not their own analysis, but ideas already processed by other sources. The net provides a rich repository of online arguments for and against classic issues like death penalty, gay rights, equal pay for women, euthanasia, etc. Not much thinking is happening especially when students are simply obssessed with reading their notes instead of doing real debating.

2
Reason: Debate is important for the survival of humankind (LOL).
Rebuttal: What? Debate is mere talk, no action. The world has long debated on important issues that beset regions of the planet. From the orgy of government-sponsored murder in Darfur to the the disappearance of North Korea's Dear Father, talk and nothing but talk produced half-baked resolutions. Has debate help prevent the American occupation of sovereign Iraq? Has debate led to the expulsion from office of the shameless squatter in the presidential seat? Has debate made the world a safer, more harmonious, and more tolerant place to live in?