The news this morning featured a local high school debate. As it turns out, debate is not about making the best point of the most elegant argument anymore. Instead, it is about quantity of arguments: cramming as many arguments as possible into the allotted time by (1) speed reading to find facts quickly and (2) fast talking - really fast, like 350 words a minute.
The result: the average person can not figure out a thing they are saying.
The evolution of the speed reading/fast talking technique stems from the recognition that a debater is more likely to win if the opponent simply does not have enough time to rebut all his arguments. Apparently, the debaters run drills like putting a pencil between the teeth to learn to talk that way. One writer complained that a debater is literally foaming at his mouth talking this way. Eeeek.
Life has taught me that it is not about the number of arguments being made. In dealing with bosses, co-workers, clients, family, spouse, kids, what we need to do is to make that ONE argument that convinces the person we are talking to. It is not about presenting 100 arguments, including the one that makes sense to the person. They would have stopped listening long before they can be convinced. It is about listening and understanding enough to know which one argument to make and how to make it. Quantity is not relevant, quality is.
Sonia Sotomayer, in her book "My Beloved Life," recounted a speech she made in a speech competition (Chapter 13). It is a masterful little 5-7 minute speech. It made a single thought-provoking point, challenging us to treat each other like human beings and not statistics. That is quality speech!
Debates just don't seem relevant any more. Talking fast is not a useful skill in life, at least not in my professional and cultural circles. Getting the facts straight? Well, look at the political debates. The average audience does not care. There are enough context and caveats that the truth is useless to rebut wrong facts. Speed reading might be a helpful skill when a deadline is looming and there are a million reports to review. But a friend who speed reads ran out of interesting material to read quickly.
So why? All the speed reading and fast talking seem to be to win at one specific type of competition that is judged by a very strange group of people who can understand English at 350 words a minute. As an average person, maybe I can slow down the speech and try to understand the argument if the topic is of interest.
My five-year old wants to play a game with me but throws a fit every time he loses. Can we grow up enough to look beyond winning?
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