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Unexplained Mysteries Debates Board
This is an idea that has been briefly touched upon before, but has never been done on the site in any formal manner. By definition, a 'debate' is a public discussion in which opposing arguements are presented, and that will be the purpose of this forum section.
How it will work
A 'debate organiser' will begin by selecting a topic for debate and selecting two members from a list of willing debate partipants, assigning each of them a side of the arguement that they will need to argue for during the debate. A thread will be started for the debate, and only those involved in that particular debate will be allowed to post there. The participants will be allowed a specified number of posts in that thread in order to put their views forward, take on opposing views from their oponent, and make their own side of the arguement the most persuasive. Once the debate is over, the arguements of both participants will be assessed, and the winner announced.
General Rules
Participants in a debate will need to adhere to the usual forum rules and guidelines. Bad language, personal insults and other such behaviour will not be permitted. Copying material from another site or source is only allowed in moderation; i.e you cannot make up an arguement entirely out of quoted material. Participants will not be allowed to edit their own posts in a debate thread, returning to a previous post and editing something out for example could result in you being disqualified.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What if i don't share the view i have been asked to argue for ?
A. Whether you personally believe you're own arguement or not is not relevant, your aim will be to try and make everyone else belief that what you are saying is the case. If the debate was to argue for the existance of the Yeti for example, and you were asked to argue for it's existance when you don't believe it does exist, then what better testament to your ability to put forward a logical and persuasive arguement than to manage to persuade everyone else that the creature does indeed exist when you yourself believe the contrary.
Q. Can more than 2 people participate in a debate ?
A. Not at the moment, though this will be supported at a later time.
Q. Can everyone else watch a debate as it happens ?
A. Yes, all debates will be open for public viewing.
Q. What is the time scale for posting to a debate ?
A. It is not necessary for a debate to happen 'live', participants will be allowed to take up to a day to formulate their next response and post it to the debate. If a participant fails to post anything in the debate for an extended period of time however, the debate may be automatically won by the remaining participant.
Q. Can I start a debate thread of my own ?
A. No, only debate organisers are permitted to start debate threads.
Q. How are the debates judged ?
A. A debate will be judged by a panel of members who will assign points depending on how persuasive each side of the arguement is. These points will then be totted up and the participant with the highest score wins the debate. A scoreboard of past debates and results will be made available to show who the top debaters are.
Q. I'd like to take part, where do i register my interest ?
A. Visit This Thread
If anyone has additional questions regarding debates, please feel free to post them in this thread. This post will be updated to include any other commonly asked questions that crop up.
Debates Board Introduction Questions and Answers
#1
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
Posted 26 April 2004 - 06:29 PM
Top
MultiQuote
#2
- Alien Abducter
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Posted 26 April 2004 - 07:12 PM
Who you got in mind for the debate organisers, and how'll it work with them and Mods?
I Love emmy more than anything, and I always will. And now we're married YAY.
Bide the Wiccan law ye must
In perfect love, in perfect trust
Eight Words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.
What ye send forth comes back to thee,
So ever mind the Rule of Three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.
Moderator of MeTV
Bide the Wiccan law ye must
In perfect love, in perfect trust
Eight Words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.
What ye send forth comes back to thee,
So ever mind the Rule of Three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.
Moderator of MeTV
#3
- Poltergeist
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You wont win.
Posted 26 April 2004 - 07:21 PM
*found the proper place to post my interest in participating. Debaters Thread in case anyone decides to post their interest here
This post has been edited by UniversalAbsurdity: 26 April 2004 - 07:24 PM
#4
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
Posted 26 April 2004 - 07:21 PM
| QUOTE |
| Who you got in mind for the debate organisers, and how'll it work with them and Mods? |
Initially while this is still in it's early stages i'll organise the first couple of debates, but i'm quite happy for you or any of the mods to act as debate organisers at any point if you'd like to do that. The title 'debate organiser' is really just a general reference to anyone who is willing and able to organise and assign debaters to a debate and moderate it until it's finished.
#5
- Alien Abducter
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Posted 26 April 2004 - 07:29 PM
Well, I'll certainly do it as my time at work permits.
I Love emmy more than anything, and I always will. And now we're married YAY.
Bide the Wiccan law ye must
In perfect love, in perfect trust
Eight Words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.
What ye send forth comes back to thee,
So ever mind the Rule of Three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.
Moderator of MeTV
Bide the Wiccan law ye must
In perfect love, in perfect trust
Eight Words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.
What ye send forth comes back to thee,
So ever mind the Rule of Three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.
Moderator of MeTV
#6
- Conspiracy Theorist
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"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
- Einstein
Posted 26 April 2004 - 09:47 PM
What if I make a grammatical error? Am I allowed to edit that? Cause I sometimes make spelling and grammar errors and I like to have my posts perfectly written.
~~~Official Giver of Fishysticks~~~
"Anarchy is not chaos, but order without control."
"Eudaemonia is not merely anarchy, but life without need."
"The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way."
My Psionics forum - http://s7.invisionfr...dex.php?act=idx
"Anarchy is not chaos, but order without control."
"Eudaemonia is not merely anarchy, but life without need."
"The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way."
My Psionics forum - http://s7.invisionfr...dex.php?act=idx
#7
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
Posted 27 April 2004 - 08:31 AM
The best way around that problem is to write you're debate posts in wordpad or other text editor and then paste it in once it's all written and checked. This might be a good idea in any case, since if you're computer crashes before you've finished writing for example, you won't have to start all over again. If you have a text editor with a spell checker than all the better. On saying that however you will not be penalised for spelling or grammar in any of the debates.
#8
- Universal Researcher
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Harness the energies around you and you'll be able to do wondrous things.
Posted 30 April 2004 - 10:55 PM
Will there be a specific thread, where members can post suggestions for a debate?
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#9
- Psychic Spy
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Illicit Citizen Of Utopia
Posted 01 May 2004 - 02:04 AM
Wonderful Idea Saruman!
I see a Future here for the little anarchist known as S&L..
would it not make a wonderful debate though?
I see a Future here for the little anarchist known as S&L..
would it not make a wonderful debate though?
The stupider people think you are, the more suprised they are when you kill them.
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History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
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Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
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- Unknown
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
-Martin Luthur king Jr, activist
Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
- Martin luthur King Jr., activist
#10
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
Posted 01 May 2004 - 09:48 AM
| QUOTE |
| Will there be a specific thread, where members can post suggestions for a debate? |
Sounds like a good idea, i'll get onto that in just a moment.
#11
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
Posted 03 May 2004 - 10:47 AM
Open Debates
There will now be 'open' debates being posted aswell, which are the same as ordinary debates except that debaters can volunteer to take part in them rather than being chosen by a debate organiser. This should give more people an opportunity to take part, and allow debaters more of a choice in which topics of debate they get to participate in.
There will now be 'open' debates being posted aswell, which are the same as ordinary debates except that debaters can volunteer to take part in them rather than being chosen by a debate organiser. This should give more people an opportunity to take part, and allow debaters more of a choice in which topics of debate they get to participate in.
#12
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whither goest thou, young rogue?
Posted 15 May 2004 - 07:53 PM
this is so kick-ass awesome.......
#13
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it happens.
it hits the fan.
Posted 21 May 2004 - 06:06 PM
coooooooooooooool
So unfair though, I'm in a debate about life after death and I have to prove there ISN'T a life after death and I so believe there is one!
Oh well.
Saruman, I noticed the debaters thread is closed. Does this mean that a person who isn't a debater can't become one now?
Also, for the debaters where it says Member, Moderator, Administrator, Debate organiser, etc... , can they have Debater instead of a boring and simple Member tag?
So unfair though, I'm in a debate about life after death and I have to prove there ISN'T a life after death and I so believe there is one!
Oh well.
Saruman, I noticed the debaters thread is closed. Does this mean that a person who isn't a debater can't become one now?
Also, for the debaters where it says Member, Moderator, Administrator, Debate organiser, etc... , can they have Debater instead of a boring and simple Member tag?
Don't worry about the world ending today... It's already tomorrow in Australia. Unless you're in Australia... (then start worrying)
May you live as long as you want - and never want as long as you live!
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May you live as long as you want - and never want as long as you live!
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#14
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
Posted 21 May 2004 - 06:17 PM
| QUOTE |
| Saruman, I noticed the debaters thread is closed. Does this mean that a person who isn't a debater can't become one now? |
What we've done is stopped new signups for the moment so that the 20 or so debaters that we do have can compete against one another until we have a debate champion for this 'group'. Once the winner is found, we can open the debates again to another group of debaters, and so on and so forth.
I don't have specific details just yet, but for the moment we have enough debaters to be going on with, though there will be a chance in the near future for other members to take part aswell.
| QUOTE |
| Also, for the debaters where it says Member, Moderator, Administrator, Debate organiser, etc... , can they have Debater instead of a boring and simple Member tag? |
I'll get back to you on that one
#15
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“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.”
Posted 21 May 2004 - 06:29 PM
Galor, i'm still waiting for your response bud. 
And to your comment that it's unfair that you have to debate that there ISN'T life after death, well, i don't believe there is a life after death, but i have to debate that there IS one! Same with my Loch Ness Monster debate, i don't believe there is one, but i have to debate that there is one hahah.
Saruman, in the future would it be possible to choose what you would like to debate for?
Although in saying that it is actually interesting to debate against what you actually believe, it gives you a nice different viewpoint.
And to your comment that it's unfair that you have to debate that there ISN'T life after death, well, i don't believe there is a life after death, but i have to debate that there IS one! Same with my Loch Ness Monster debate, i don't believe there is one, but i have to debate that there is one hahah.
Saruman, in the future would it be possible to choose what you would like to debate for?
Although in saying that it is actually interesting to debate against what you actually believe, it gives you a nice different viewpoint.
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