Is anyone on here currently a high school debater?

Author: Tejretics

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#1
Tejretics
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There's a lot of former HS debaters in this community, but I don't think there are many current high school debaters.

When I joined DDO, there were a few active ones (e.g. debatability). Is anyone on here currently a high school debater? What format do you debate in?
#2
Vader
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Me

Policy
#3
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I'm dropping out next year. Our team won't have a director until my senior year and I am not so fond of our replacement
#4
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@Vader
Debating is a waste of life anyway, only do it as a hobby not a serious thing anyone cares about. Humans are too stupid to comprehend complex arguments on average.
#5
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@RationalMadman
It gets you into a good college and helps you in becoming a lawyer. I wouldn't call it a waste of time. In my case however, it is the biggest waste of time.
#6
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@Vader
Lawyers are rarely skilled debaters, they're usually extenely close to salespeople in their skillset.
#7
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extremely*
#8
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@RationalMadman
@Vader
Debating is a waste of life anyway, only do it as a hobby not a serious thing anyone cares about. Humans are too stupid to comprehend complex arguments on average.
Agree with the first part. Don't agree with the second. The allegedly complex arguments are generallysh-t no one cares about. Unless you're really big into the hobby of debating or discussing the topic in question, there's really no intrinsic value in well . . . anything that gets debated either on a debate team or on a website. 


It gets you into a good college and helps you in becoming a lawyer. 

To a certain extent maybe, but formal debate is bogged down by too many rules that don't exist anywhere else in life. "Dropped" and "extended" arguments is a great example. Just because the other party does not address every single thing you just said doesn't mean they concede to the parts they didn't address and judges/juries understand that.

Lawyers are rarely skilled debaters, they're usually extenely close to salespeople in their skillset.
Most of us are far better at making deals than "debating." But not every litigated case is going to end in a "deal" and so those debate /public-speaking skills you picked up in highschool/college can and do come in handy provided you can forget 40% of what you learned either on the debate team or arguing on the Internet.
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#9
Tejretics
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@Logical-Master
To a certain extent maybe, but formal debate is bogged down by too many rules that don't exist anywhere else in life. "Dropped" and "extended" arguments is a great example. Just because the other party does not address every single thing you just said doesn't mean they concede to the parts they didn't address and judges/juries understand that.
This isn't necessarily true of all formal debate formats, though. The ones I debate in don't judge "by the flow" in that extreme way. 
#10
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@Tejretics
Interesting. I haven't done it since highschool. Is spreading still a thing? 
#11
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I am! I do policy.
#12
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@Logical-Master
Yes, it is. It's worse now. People regularly spread above 400 wpm.  There are schools that teach their debaters to simply spam shitty arguments at ridiculous speeds. Those debaters win tournaments. Krikiks are weirder now too. I can see if I can send you a file for one I recently acquired. It's indescribable.
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#13
Tejretics
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@Logical-Master
Like I said, I debate in a different format than LD/PF/Policy.
#14
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@Jhhillman
I noticed something phenomenal in my schooling life as a debate-geek... The older the debater, the worse they were at adapting. What fascinated me was that as I aged to around 17 hitting my last year of school, I noticed something phenomenal; I got better and better but others got worse and worse as they got older.

There is something they lose in creativity that is horrifying to me and it's most blatant in the 15-16 period for most males. They suddenly become so rigid in their style and thinking and become TERRIBLE last-round carries for the team. I never got to properly lead a team because by the time I was 17-18 I moved schools, it's a long story. So basically I had zero rep-worth in my new school and lost my credibility as a last-round monster. I would come up with insanely creative comebacks that judges said they'd never ever heard before on the topic in 12 years of judging and stuff.

That being said, I was a very irritating individual due to emotional shit I was going through and my teams often hated how bad I was at team-playing and I regret it but regrets make you improve as a human being so whatever I improved due to it. I was stubborn and horrible at working around the thinking-patterns my teammates had on the topic. Instead of going with their flawed strategy and making it as great as it can be, I would always want to force the optimal strategy onto them and in hindsight I knew so little about people back then it was scarily pathetic.

Anyways, I don't regret it; debating teaches you so much about people but as a life skill it's nothing but a pointless hobby outside of your own brain because people hate debating and adore people who make them feel smart and correct.
#15
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@Jhhillman
Yes, it is. It's worse now. People regularly spread above 400 wpm.  There are schools that teach their debaters to simply spam shitty arguments at ridiculous speeds. Those debaters win tournaments. Krikiks are weirder now too. I can see if I can send you a file for one I recently acquired. It's indescribable.
This sounds hilarious.

Do you have a youtube (or other web) link perhaps?

#16
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@Jhhillman
Yes, it is. It's worse now. People regularly spread above 400 wpm.  There are schools that teach their debaters to simply spam shitty arguments at ridiculous speeds. Those debaters win tournaments. Krikiks are weirder now too. I can see if I can send you a file for one I recently acquired. It's indescribable.
What are the metrics used to judge debate winners in the US? If you tried this in Aus you would simply lose on presentation manner and comprehensibility. 

#17
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@Smithereens
I think they are not from USA but can't tell the country I think because that's doxxing. You are helping doxxing by telling they are not from Aus so you can't report this.

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#18
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@Smithereens
It's sort of a combination of what I'm guessing would be "Matter" and "Method" in Australia, though it's much more hinged on arguments/warrants/impacts that are dropped or remain "on the flow" at the end of the round.
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#19
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@RationalMadman
Pretty sure Policy is only a thing in the US...

If you meant me by "they," though, I'm from India.
#20
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@Tejretics
It's not. JHHillman is not form usa to my knowledge.
#21
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Yes, I am a freshman.  I am top 100 on DDO leader-boards, and I have seen you on DDO before.  Since DDO is dead, someone recommended this website.  I am now going to balance between this and DDO.
#22
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This be the black pearl, you either hop aboard or WALK THE PLANK! NO HALF THIS HALF THAT! ARRRRrrgh
#23
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@Tejretics
We have no such consideration for unrefuted arguments. I did a quick google and it seems the point of spreading is to win by presenting more arguments than the opponent can refute. That's imho a clear exploitation of rule technicality.
#24
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In policy debate, hou win an argument as long as you techically said it. If you say the words "plan can't solve becuase china hates trump" and htey miss it, than you min that argument. And yes, I am from the USA.
#25
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@Jhhillman
Can you fix your grammar

#26
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@Jhhillman
I agree. I have heard some of the stupidest CPs and Ks ever

Greece CP/K

The worse CP was the

European Bridge CP which wanted the USFG to build a fucking bridge from USA to Europe. i litteraly called them nutcases during the debate and read a poem about money to say it doesn't make sense and it cost too much money

#27
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@Jhhillman
In policy debate, hou win an argument as long as you techically said it. If you say the words "plan can't solve becuase china hates trump" and htey miss it, than you min that argument. And yes, I am from the USA.
I don't know why but this makes me angry lol. This is an objectively terrible rule to impose on debaters. 
#28
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Missed my chance lol. 

If I were to do it I would've done policy. 

But idk reading online guides and practicing by myself is seeming to work just as well. 

#29
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@Username
Being first or second speaker is fairly irrelevant and something you can indeed compensate with your means of learning debating but being the closing/third speaker of your team in a lvie devate involves extremely complex intellect. Not just IQ, actually deep ibterqebbing of logic under time pressure combined with creative artistic devating suave to pull off the rebuttals in an eloquent, entertaining manner. This is nearly impossible to gain by any other means than real life debating or at least real life arguments with people in a non official setting.

#30
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High school debate would be a lot better if at the beginning of every year each team got beaten up by their football players (in the case of females the equivalent would be losing badly in a verbal confrontation with a cheerleader and/or member of the drill team)