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Quote by: Athena  Which one of us actually knows the rules for debating or argumentation? I do not. I know those rules exist and I can access them, but using them means real effort. I think if we actually knew the rules and used them, some really amazing things could happen in this group thinking effort in these forums. What we are doing is the real meaning of democracy. We aren't sharing wine and food as the Athenians did, but what we are doing is what lead to some of the best thinking in history. |
Very much agreed. Argument would be much more entertaining if I didn't have to continuously point out fallacious thinking.
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:confused: I don't know if we really want to kick this up a notch and post the rules for real debate, so we can learn them together. That may be too formal for what has been an informal gathering of minds. However, such formality would erradicate the personal attacks and could be a good discipline for us all to practice. It would greatly improve our thinking skills and self discipline, but also wouldn't be so friendly. |
I don't disagree that this forum largely constitutes informal debate, nor do I object to that fact. I just think that, on a debate forum, people should practice formal
logic, which means they will have to exclude the complete list of fallacies as a means to prove their point.