Debate

Debate vs Reason

Debate is a competitive activity with a goal to win, persuade, or assert a pre-determined position, almost as a contest aimed at winning an argument or persuading an audience or defeating an opponent.

To reason together is a cooperative process designed to explore, understand, and find the ultimate truth. Its only goal is to seek understanding, explore a topic, and find the best possible answer with a hope of an equal mutual understanding.

It is often informal, flexible, and open-ended focusing on listening to the other side with hope of understanding. It will include asking questions sincerely rather than to create gotcha-moments.

Truth-seeking requires the looking at the big picture with logical consistency, while being willing to explore the perspectives of others at the same time.

Debates generally have a pro and con position but many debaters approach almost all position with a focus on the negative points of disagreement. This can lead to "Negativity bias".

Sophists

Plato used the term eristikos/eristikē (eristic), derived from eris (strife or dispute), to criticize debates focused solely on winning rather than finding the truth.

This eristic refers to point-scoring, argumentative, or contentious debate intended to make the weaker argument appear stronger, or stronger position less valid. Plato deemed this activity to be a trivial sport rather than a real quest for truth or wisdom.

He also targeted rhetorike (rhetoric) as a dangerous, disingenuous, and manipulative "knack" used by sophists, rather than a genuine, philosophical pursuit of knowledge.

Plato criticized Rhetoric as a shallow unproductive activity focused on powers of persuasion and emotional manipulation (psychagogia) rather than that noble goal of truth or wisdom.

In contrast, Plato promoted what was called Dialectic (dialektikos) method of questioning and logical analysis of Right Reason to uncover truth, which he saw as the opposite of the manipulative debating styles he opposed.

A false dialectic premise, often appearing as a false dilemma or false dichotomy, is a logical fallacy that incorrectly identified a complex situation establishing two supposedly opposing positions, ignoring other or more intermediate possibilities to create conflict. It has the intension to force a "black and white" choice, such as "either you are with us or against us." Its goal is not truth, wisdom or righteousness but conflict, division and ultimately control. it is meant to manipulate outcomes focusing on debate to avoid real alternatives.

The negativity debate centers on whether human focus on negative information is a beneficial survival mechanism or a detrimental psychological bias.

negativity

While negativity can aid survival and foster realistic expectations, excessive focus on it causes stress and poor mental health. It involves balancing "bad" information with positive, constructive approaches.

"You can debate misinformation but you can only reason with the reasonable."

Humans tend to prioritize negative input over positive thinking. This deludes him into think focusing on the "bad" stronger and imagine that "good" in memory and perception is weaker. This of course cultivate fear and aggression and leads to excessive anxiety, depression, and physical illness.

Negativity bias

The Negative emotions that accompanies the means and methods of fear and aggression may serve as warning signs for danger and are believed to be a key to survival can also decrease the immune system's ability to fight infection and increase inflammation in the body and in society.

The "Negativity bias" should be reconsidered as a poison for the mind and the soul. It should be reduced in favor of healthier, more balanced perspectives by the means and methods of Christ like forgiveness and serving others not by putting down what they got wrong but helping them step in the things they got right.

To focus on what is "for" or "good" in others is an idea that feeds improvements, which fosters voluntary collaboration.

Looking for the positive practices more tangible and familiar in the brain when interacting with others including your enemy to reduce negative default-ism.

Taking the good and bad together can "detoxify" negative influence.

• Ecclesiastes 7:14 "In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him." 12 "For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it."
• John 16:31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
• Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." ... 26 "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

Paul mentions debate

• Romans 1:29 "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,"

Here we see the word debate listed between envy, murder and deceit, malignity on the other.

We also see the word linked with other conditions Paul condemns in:

• 2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

But the word in the Greek is eris is not always translated debate. It is defined as "contention, strife, wrangling".

It is translated strife in four verses and always listed with the word for envy.

• Romans 13:13 "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."
• 1 Corinthians 3:3 "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strifee, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"
• Philippians 1:15 "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:"
• 1 Timothy 6:4 "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,"

It also appear as contentious twice in:

• 1 Corinthians 1:11 "For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them [which are of the house] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you."
• Titus 3:9 "But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain."

On His letter to the Galatians it is translated "variance" and listed between Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, on the other:

• Galatians 5:20 "Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,"

It appears in a long list of those who "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" that begins in Galatians 5:19 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," and ends in Galatians 5:21 "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Old Debate

In the Old Testament there are two very different words that can be translated debate.

Matstsah

In Isaiah we see the word matstsah MemTzadikHey translated debate but also translate contention and strife.

“‎‭9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. {lamp: or, candle} ‎‭10 Only by pride cometh contention(מַצָּ֑ה): but with the well advised (נ֖וֹעָצִ֣ים) is wisdom. ‎‭11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. {by labour: Heb. with the hand}” Proverbs 13:9-11

Matstsah is from the word natsah composed of the Hebrew letters NunTzadikHey which is said to be defined as "to fly" or "to struggle", even "to strip off, make desolate, fall in ruins". One letter in matstsah was changed from the original Nun equated with the fish in the sea to the Mem which often has to do with water in motion. The more commonly used NunTzadikHey is seen translated into strive or strive together can shift to express the MemTzadikHey which suggests an habitual debater which appear to be the debate Paul warns us about.

“‎‭16 Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? ‎‭17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ‎‭18 A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. {understanding: Heb. heart} ‎‭19 He loveth transgression that loveth strife(מַצָּ֑ה) : and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. ‎‭20 He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. {He that hath a froward…: Heb. The froward of heart}” Proverbs 17:16-20

Ryib

• Isaiah 58:4 "Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high."

In the same verse we see the word strife which is from the Hebrew word riyb. Those same Hebrew letters ReishYodBeitproduce the word debate in:

• Proverbs 25:9 "Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:"
• Isaiah 27:8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.

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