Posts: 1205
From: North Carolina
Registered: Aug 2003

posted December 08, 2005 10:36 AM         

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beebuddy
I wasn't sure whether or not to respond to this thread at first but, well, here I am.
Just so you know, this isn't the first time someone has presented the idea of "proper" debating. To my knowledge it has been done twice before, though perhaps within a close time span. Perhaps it's even been brought up more than that and I'm just unaware of it.
Regardless, the simple fact is that you cannot force or expect people to post in whatever manner you personally prefer. LL is not a professionaly competitive arena. There are no site guidelines specifying that we are expected to debate in this or that manner. In fact, I would hardly call this site, as a whole, a true debate setting even though debates do occur.
In my personal opinion, I imagine it would be nicer if everybody knew and applied principles for a rational debate when actually debating but I can guarantee you that alot of people don't share my opinion. I have no problem with that. I'm not going to refuse to discuss or debate with someone just because I don't like the way they are presenting their ideas. That would be absurd and arrogant. I'm going to try to understand them. If I find that I don't agree with them, no biggie. I can argue or not. My choice. If I find I don't understand them, no biggie. I can keep trying or just ignore them. Again, my choice.
We all have that choice.
My advice is to just relax. People don't fight because they don't know how to debate properly. They fight because they want to. It's their choice to respond or not to respond. It's their choice to be polite or to be disrespectful. The way everyone writes on this site is their own personal choice. Their words are the way they choose to present themselves here. And the microcosm that is LL represents the greater macrocosm that is life. You will have the drama queens and kings. You will have the wallowers in self pity. You will have the easily offended, easily provoked types. You will have the shy ones, the loud ones, the funny ones, the pedantic ones, etc. We're all here. No matter what has happened, we're all still here.

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"To learn is to live, to study is to grow, and growth is the measurement of life. The mind must be taught to think, the heart to feel, and the hands to labor. When these have been educated to their highest point, then is the time to offer them to the service of their fellowman, not before." - Manly P. Hall

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