Intelligence Squared Debate
In this project, we wanted to expand our horizons past globalization. So we began to study the opposite of globalization, terrorism. We learned all about religion by comparing Islam to different monotheistic religions. We then were given motions from Ally from real world situations. I was giving the motion "The US should not accept 50,000 Syrian Refugees. Then, we collected information about our topic by finding a plethora of different sources including debates on our motion. After gathering background knowledge we put that knowledge into works by writing a process paper. The process paper consisted of the argument you had the best evidence and analysis for. This helped up to our end goal, to have a debate ourselves inferno of an audience. We took the content of our process paper and began to construct our speeches accordingly. Finally, we executed our in class debate for a grade to conclude the project. However we weren't finished with the project just yet. For all school exhibition Ally chose the most "spicy" debates ( Syrian Refugees and Drone Strikes in the middle east) and asked us to take on a more challenging role and I did. I chose to debate pro-Drone Strikes in the Middle East. I only had a week to gather content but due to the quantity of the process papers about my motion I was well prepared and ended up winning our debate.
At the beginning of the project, I had little to no content about the issue. That includes the cause of terrorism, the mania of the middle east, and U.S policy of the situation. Yet, through gathering knowledge about my motion I had to explore all three. The process of doing such was lengthy but in the end I had gathered viable information around the topic. I learned how the discrepancies between Islam and mainstream American culture has caused tension between the two parties through executing planned attacks against one another. I also learned how the US involvement in the middle east has created even greater tension. This project lifted a vail cast by social media so I could see the truth of terrorism and the Middle East. However, I also inquired knowledge about the US policy and involvement of the issue, and how they deal with refugees. It was weird for me, as an American, to uncover events that I didn't know had American involvement such as the Arab Spring. Ultimately, this knowledge will resonate with me and require me to challenge information in the future.
Some argumentative skills I have developed this project include these of logical fallacies, flowing what your opponents says, and diminishing people's evidence based on credibility. As Google defines it "A fallacy is an incorrect argument in logic and rhetoric which undermines an argument's logical validity or more generally an argument's logical soundness." This includes a variety of techniques or instances. This includes: Anecdotal fallacy - using a personal experience or an isolated example instead of sound reasoning or compelling evidence, Appeal to the stone - dismissing a claim as absurd without demonstrating proof for its absurdity, and many more. This allowed me to poke holes in my opponents argument by challenging their claim in a widely know logical way that could not be refuted. In addition to the logical fallacies, I developed the skill to flow someone's thoughts or a debate. This technique can be used to remember what your opponent says so you know exactly how to rebut it. This was especially effective in a debate type setting because you have the time and materials to do such. This brings me to diminishing an argument based on their source. Before this was emphasized in this project, I never really thought about it. Ultimately, this project has vastly developed my argumentative skills.
At the beginning of the project, I had little to no content about the issue. That includes the cause of terrorism, the mania of the middle east, and U.S policy of the situation. Yet, through gathering knowledge about my motion I had to explore all three. The process of doing such was lengthy but in the end I had gathered viable information around the topic. I learned how the discrepancies between Islam and mainstream American culture has caused tension between the two parties through executing planned attacks against one another. I also learned how the US involvement in the middle east has created even greater tension. This project lifted a vail cast by social media so I could see the truth of terrorism and the Middle East. However, I also inquired knowledge about the US policy and involvement of the issue, and how they deal with refugees. It was weird for me, as an American, to uncover events that I didn't know had American involvement such as the Arab Spring. Ultimately, this knowledge will resonate with me and require me to challenge information in the future.
Some argumentative skills I have developed this project include these of logical fallacies, flowing what your opponents says, and diminishing people's evidence based on credibility. As Google defines it "A fallacy is an incorrect argument in logic and rhetoric which undermines an argument's logical validity or more generally an argument's logical soundness." This includes a variety of techniques or instances. This includes: Anecdotal fallacy - using a personal experience or an isolated example instead of sound reasoning or compelling evidence, Appeal to the stone - dismissing a claim as absurd without demonstrating proof for its absurdity, and many more. This allowed me to poke holes in my opponents argument by challenging their claim in a widely know logical way that could not be refuted. In addition to the logical fallacies, I developed the skill to flow someone's thoughts or a debate. This technique can be used to remember what your opponent says so you know exactly how to rebut it. This was especially effective in a debate type setting because you have the time and materials to do such. This brings me to diminishing an argument based on their source. Before this was emphasized in this project, I never really thought about it. Ultimately, this project has vastly developed my argumentative skills.