Aliens-peacemakers,scientists,or conqeurer

Chubacabra ( mexian goat attacking thing)-real or not.

Biogenetics- Should we alter genes of humans

Raising the dead- Should we try to play god or let the dead be dead

Mothman- uncivilizedcreature , misunderstoog human, hoax.

Micheal Jackson- Human or not

Fast Food - should it be banned? Should it contain similar warnings to alcohol and cigarettes? Should a special tax be put on it the same way as cigarettes and alcohol? Should extra large sizes be banned or is it a person's choice?

here's one: The legal age for smoking vs. the legal age for sex
how's that sound?

I like your debate idea Arsenik; I would look at it as a debate of age discrimination.

Driver’s license is 16

The legal age for sex is 18, 16 I believe with parents consent

The legal age for smoking is 18

The draft is 18

The legal age for drinking is 21

At age 25 your insurance in general goes down especial if you’re married.

At age 65 Retirement

These may not be correct in some states. The debate would be one person in favor of one or more of these age rules and someone who is not.

P.S. I can't believe you can legally kill someone before you can get drunk.

how cna you legally kill someone?

The ages are different here as well:

16 to have sex with or without parents consent.
18 to get married.
18 to drink.
17 to drive.
18 to vote.
60/65 retirement.
16 to smoke.

Meaning warfare in the eyes of your country - to me killing is killing but if you go to war you are licensed to kill and not be prosecuted. Of course there are rules to who you can kill but...

Dog Demon, although I'm not a pro-lifer, if this hasn't already been debated, I will be happy to debate you on this issue.

Oh yes I see what you mean now Sorry got a bit confused abotu that one duh!

As i've said before guys, if you want to debate on certain topics but don't see them in the debates form, PM me and i'll happily set up the debate personally for you and your debate partner.

I don't want to debate it myself though... I can never be bothered with debates I want to see someone else debating it! Sorry to be a pain!

That's okay, it wasn't directed at you or anyone in particular Ames.

Prison vs Slavery as punishment for crimes

Should there be a "per pound" tax on overweight people to help feed the worlds starving

Should people on public assistance be given free job training if they would agree to relocate to a area where the training was needed

Should your income determine whether or not it is legal to smoke, drink, or have children

Should space exploration and travel be privatised or left in the hands of government agencies like NASA?

Sorry bout that post, bro. Forgot to log out before replaying. Anyways,:


I'd debate this topic. I'd be pro-age rules. Some one just pm me if they wanna be on the other side.

I got this idea here so we could debate if rap music causes people to bad or is just fun to listen to.

This debate is interesting, but I still think it is abit irrelevant, unless you have a scientifically based organisaton that is legal, and your research can get published, with the general public as readers, how else is there any use of this except for the knowledge of the members solely?

out of control parents at sporting events. should something be done? or should they be allowed to do what they want?

It's called 'abit o' fun'.

Technically, using your words, the whole site is completely irrelivant, since it is only for members to read and post on to benefit the knowledge of the members soley.

Personally I would like to see a debate on wether exploring our Oceans, which so little is known of, is more important than the billions we are spending in space exploration.

Should we turn our focus towards the deep blue, instead of deep space?

I would personally like to champion the side of exploring the deep blue if at all possible.

I might suggest the reality of hellhounds...

thers no debate there, I know them to exist, my moms little black poodle was a hound from hell, always barking, biting my legs........

lol

-A Skeptics vs. Believers debate.

-A judge picks (at random) a crypto picture, and give reasons for, or against that picture and explain why it's real or fake.

Would the skeptic's vs. belivers debate be more then 1 on 1?
Maybe 3 on 3 or something like that...

Is the human brain our greatest asset, or is it our greatest enemy?

Ya, I was thinking about more of a group debate.

It would be fun to watch...

That's a faitly good idea Die.

2v2 is the highest we can go, i might consider it.

Id like to debate th topic of atheism vs. Christiantity(although othe rreligions are ok by me.)

But, we could make a little team for both sides. Each person doing one part.
One for intro
One for Body 1
One for Body 2
One for Body 3
One for conclusion.
something like that

how about should humanity contiunue to explore space???

what casued the extinction of dinosaurs???

im not to familiar with the debates, but what about a more fun inspired debate, like what is a better movie and why like The Matrix vs LOTR or Resident Evil Vs Silent Hill, or a debate on cars (i.e. domestics vs imports)


honestly id like to see all 3 of these as i know there are people on here that have firm understandings of at least the matrix vs lotr and re vs sh

why don't you move this forum up toward the top? Debates should be for many people to see; not at the bottom where it remains in darkness

How about a debate on whether the hubble should be saved and repaired or just fired into the ocean!

I suggest we have a debate competition about the Unexplained Mysteries

How about the new debating rules vs. the old ones? (pick which debate you want to participate in or fixed debate team)

I like a fixed debate team . Sounds interesting .

Uh, I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying.... I didn't mean to put it exactly like that....

These are all great ideas guys keep them coming! I'm just waiting for a few debates to be judged/finished and then i'm going to be starting some new ones based on your ideas.

hmmmmm

Debate: Psi ; Does it exist?

It's a fantastic idea, and i tried creating a debate on that subject not to long ago.
Sadly, considering theirs SO MANY people on this site who claim to have super awesome Psi powers and the like, not one of them signed up for the debate.

Wonder why.

lol

I think psi exists, I tried it but I found out it isn't actually anything paranormal, its electric energy in ure nerves

or thats what i head :'

There aren't enought members that visit often to have a debate competition, are there?

Or any competition of some sort....

I've run it though, and we don't think it would work sadly. Not, at least, until there's more interest in the debates. Lately it seems i have to remind everyone everytime they have to post, otherwise they wont.
T'was a good idea though.

Thats cool . I was thinking of a nation wide online debate competition, that would have been awesome...but then again, imagination is imagination .

I have a question though...how do debates end? Like, is there a limited number of posts, or does someone declare themselves the winner....or if one of the debators successfully stumps the other...

how does it work?

Well basically, the debate organisor, myself, sets up the debate and explains the terms.

Generally, the terms are, each debater posts 1 introduction, 4 body posts, 1 conclusion. Sometimes it's less body posts, sometimes more.

Once both debaters have finished their conclusions, three debate judges will grade each of the debaters out of 10 for their style, countering arguments, persuasivness and relivance to the topic, for a total mark out of 40. I tally the results, decalre the winner.

If one debater has no response to the others arguments, has nothing to say or cannot think of a new argument to post, or fails to post entirely, the debate will end and be passed to the debate judges as normal, with 5 points deducted from the loser of the debate by myself after the results are tallied.

Also, breaking of the rules will result in a disqualification. This includes flaming, stealing other peoples work, etc.

Hope that helps.

O, it does, thank you so much for the info Burnside .

Hehe...debating is fun, but only if you think your winning .

i own a conference room that has voice and text chat and web cam

it also has a built in web browser where a moderator can synchronize a web page so everyone in the room is looking at the same page

it would be awesome to use it for some live debates

the opponents could have links preset so while they make their points the moderator - Burns - could push the web pages to assist them in making their points

maybe you could set up a live debate once per week or so

the room has unlimited seating so all U-M members could come watch

and the moderator has the ability to mute watchers and boot people from the room if they get unruly

of course this sevice i would provide for free as i would love to sit in on the debates as well

maybe Burns could have a panel of judges present at the debate for instant announcement of a winner

of course it's also possible to record the debates and archive the recordings for members to retrieve and listen too

just an idea from a newbie
hope you like it

It's definately a very good idea ET, although it kind of defeats the purpose of the forum debates. The debaters actually have some time to think about and create their responses. But a live debate would be really neat.
Sadly, i cannot access any chat rooms on my primitive system, let alone sit in this special voice/text/webcam thing, i have access to none of it.
I can't even access the UM chatroom.
Maybe saucy, the other debate organisor, has a better system than i and could set this sort of thing up.

Burns ---- as for accessability the room works for anyone with windows 98se and up

as for time to prepare i think that shows a true debators knowledge they could have a couple weeks to prepare their arguement then their rebutle would have to be off the cuff like a true debate

as for the forum debates i dont think this would necesarily kill them. some people wont have access to the rooms and still want to debate and if the popularity of the live debate grows well after all isnt that the premise of the forum ? too evolve and better meet the members wants and needs ?

and dont get me wrong i may be new but i love the way the forum is

i think this could get more members more involved

how would i go about talking with saucy about it ?

and Burns ty for your time