Go Forth and Argue

This week’s feature (“Let’s Debate That,” page 70) deals with the increasing infiltration of American high school debate by progressive ideology. Ironically, that infiltration is taking place at a time of mounting evidence that the principles of high school debate, as it once existed, constitute the most effective response to the current cultural rancor, and can significantly improve educational outcomes.

Nearly any successful high school debater of the last 50 years will point to high school debate’s emphasis on evidence-based reasoning as his or her most formative high school educational experience. Among the lessons imbibed were that there are various possible solutions to any particular societal problem, and with respect to any given solution, the costs must be weighed against the benefits.

Debaters also learned that if a topic is worth debating, there are likely at least two sides to the issue. Indeed, in many of the top tournaments of my day, teams were required to switch between the affirmative and negative sides every other round.

Debate taught us to think about the weaknesses of our own positions and anticipate the attacks likely to be launched on those weak links. I doubt I could have won the Yale Moot Court competition — the results of which are largely determined by the ability to anticipate the questions from the judicial panel in front of one and answer them on the spot — without my debate background.