"And the motion of the debate is..."

SquirtleGirl

Pokémon: 10 years + Counting..
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    ....do you enjoy debating?

    Do you like to go into it headfirst, all guns blazing, determined to get your point across? Or do you back-up your points with evidence and keep your cool? Or [like me] do you avoid debates alltogether for your own reasons?

    I see lots of debate on this forum and while it is enjoyable for some and good to see big issues being discussed, I personally get very intimidated by debates, especially online. Some people really know how to come down on you like a tonne of bricks. I'm an overly-sensitive person so debates don't really suit me. If I'm wrong about something or say something foolish and I'm called out on it, its very hard to shake off.

    So...what about you guys? :)
     
    We've had some really fun civilised debates in classes, which I really enjoyed, some of the topics debated were pretty interesting, which included abortion, racism n' all that jazz.

    I tend not to get into a conflicting debates, because, it just isn't the sort of person I am to get involved in such a stupid conflict, and I wouldn't really even call them debates, but I do tend to get into a lot of them when trying to get my point across to someone really stubborn.

    I like to get involved in fourm debates sometimes too, which is one of the reasons why I started joining them.
     
    No I don't like debating, but I still do it too often, out of boredom. I don't like it because most people have the most stupid ******** opinions ever.
     
    A few years ago I used to be very argumentative, especially on the internet. I would hawk eye posts for the slightest opportunity to make an objective statement against. My winning strategy focussed on assertion and at times, borderline aggression. Of course I would back up my claims with reasonable evidence too.

    Nowadays though I just cannot be bothered most of the time. Doing a maths degree has made me realise how lazy I truly am. It's just too much effort now for me to argue with people in general cases. If the matter at hand is of importance or significance to me, then I will get my debate on. Otherwise I'm pretty submissive and easy to neutralize.
     
    I usually try to do both at the same time, jumping right into discussion with reasons and evidence strengthening my arguments. I do enjoy debates, but I know that I can often get too carried away with them, and end up turning it into an actual argument, which I do try to not do (but it usually happens anyway). I've always been told that I somehow have a talent of being able to twist other people's arguments against themselves, even if what I'm saying is untrue - some teachers I used to have told me that I'm able to convince others that something I'm saying that's false is actually true. I don't even realise I do that, though, which makes me think that it's not quite true - maybe I'm just overlooking it, though.
     
    I like getting into debates when I see a hole in them. Not in the sense that I see mistakes, though that could be it, but when I see that there is some aspect or other that isn't being discussed and I think it's important to the topic I want to get in the debate and bring that up. I'll play devil's advocate sometimes because of that feeling, but I don't enjoy debates for the sake of debating or taking up a side I don't personally agree with. Did that in high school where we were given arbitrary sides to some issue or other and had to fight for them. Not enjoyable at all.
     
    Unless I'm annoyed, a majority of the time, I hold the the mindset of "Well, that's your opinion and I'm not going to waste my time trying to change it." But I also usually believe that my opinion is right, and yours is wrong. Because 90% of the time, it is. tehe!
     
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    Oh god no. I can't get my points across to save my life. I like watching people debate though. It can get pretty heated sometimes.
     
    Nope. I hate debating. Usually because I have difficulty getting my opinion across and mostly because I just don't care for/about them at all.
     
    Ugh debates.

    I participated in a few debates before, and even though I have enjoyed them, I cannot push myself into liking debates. I know it sounds a bit weird, enjoying something you don't like, but I assure you: you wouldn't want to have a debate with me, not even once! I have the tendency to force people into believing what I say is right, and if they don't agree there will be an argument. This is why I rarely post in OC debate threads, they just aren't my type.

    Of course, out of debates, I don't force people into believing what I say is right. :3
     
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    I tend to debate a lot, so much that I got into a debate with my boyfriend last night about Pokemon. I am the type of person that when it comes to debating I will come out blazing first without keeping my cool. I love to make people crack under pressure; no one has ever made me crack under the pressure of whatever we are debating about.


    :t354:TG
     
    I used to love debating, especially online, but then I started to realize how dumb a lot of people both in real life and on the internet are... so I sort of shied away from it. I'll still reply to things if I feel strongly about it and I have something concise to say, but I tend to avoid confrontation now. When I do reply to debates and the like, I usually give up on them and lose interest long before the end of the argument/thread/whatever.

    I think I can connect my loss of interest to a specific debate (read: argument) I had with this woman who came into my high school to talk to the religion classes. She was super pro-life and completely brushed off my opinions when I tried to argue a point with her. Essentially, when I would try to say "well if people are getting abortions anyway, shouldn't we use the foetuses for stem cell research?" and I can understand being against that but her answer was adamantly "abortion is wrong and it shouldn't be done". Augggh! I hate when people "reply" to your arguments but don't actually say anything productive. It made me lose faith in debates and I never got that interest back. It happens too often.
     
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