the.com/debate
organized arguing where the winner is whoever lied most confidently with the better posture
means A formal or structured discussion in which people present opposing arguments on a topic, trying to persuade an audience or each other.
from From Old French 'debatre' — literally 'to beat down' — built from 'de-' (down, completely) plus 'batre' (to beat), which traces to Latin 'battuere,' to strike or fight. So a debate began life as a verbal brawl, a beating-down of your opponent's points, and the same 'batre' gives us 'battle' and 'batter.' The genteel podiums came much later; the bones of the word still remember a fistfight.
- ancient origins
- Greeks trained for it like Olympic sport
- the rules
- timed shouting with a moderator nobody obeys
- backfire effect
- losing arguments can deepen the loser's beliefs
- devils advocate
- originated as a real Vatican job title
- flop sweat
- Nixon lost 1960 partly to bad makeup
lincoln douglas debates — abraham lincoln vs stephen douglas, 1858 illinois senate race, 7 debates across the state
kennedy nixon debates — jfk vs richard nixon, 1960 us presidential election, first televised presidential debates
oxford union debates — weekly debates at oxford university since 1823, featuring politicians, celebrities, and scholars