intellectual Jousting

Intellectual Jousting is trying to debate something on the Internet for the intellectual stimulation, learning, and fun.

Rules for Intellectual Jousting

  1. Read and learn background on topic before jousting
  2. Fight with honor and integrity. Debate the topic, addressing the hard questions head on.
  3. Only joust where you are welcome. If the forum is hostile and you are not welcome, leave.
  4. If debating in several different forums over a period of time a FAQ is useful to avoid repitition. Present opposing side questions in best possible way. If the FAQ is in a blog post then you can make a forum for debating on your home turf.
  5. Never use adhominime attacks and if the other side starts to it is best to move on.
  6. Extra points if you are given a question that makes no sense and from that can figure out where the model in their head is wrong.
Two honest, rational, smart, fair, polite people should be able to have a "meeting of the minds" where they understand each other. If they are talking about something in the real world they can probably agree on what is real. If it is a question of values or what is important they may not agree but if it is a question of science and they work long enough they probably can agree.

Part of the reason for Intellectual Jousting is to get people to challenge your own views to see if there is anything that you are wrong about. It can be a learning experience. If someone corrects a flaw in your thinking you should be appreciative of the time and effort they spent helping you understand things correctly.

If you are limited in time try to wrestle with your apponents best arguments first. These have the most chance of moving the debate toward a conclusion.

Many forums seems to have numbers like 100 people reading for every active poster. It may be helpful to think that many of these people have learned and understood and found your writing useful. Maybe even think as you are writing that your target audience is not just the guy you are debating but the many quiet people reading along.

Writing helps organize your own thoughts. So writing can be useful even if you were not getting feedback. But with the Internet it is so easy to get feedback and that often can be very useful, so putting your writing online someplace and interacting with others can be a growing eperience.

About Author

Vince Cate lives on a small island in the Caribbean called Anguilla and is busy trying to make a living and take care of 4 sons.