Instigator / Pro
6
1706
rating
561
debates
68.09%
won
Topic
#637

[NO DIRECT KRITIK ALLOWED] Out of the DebateArt.Com options, the optimal Life Priority to genuinely stand by (not just 'select') is Power [READ THE DESCRIPTION(S) FOR THE RULES]

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
3
0
Better sources
2
2
Better legibility
0
1
Better conduct
1
0

After 1 vote and with 3 points ahead, the winner is...

RationalMadman
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
5
Time for argument
Three days
Max argument characters
26,500
Voting period
Two weeks
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
3
1476
rating
2
debates
25.0%
won
Description

I will just quote the Short Description before proceeding onto other rules:

1. You are not allowed to Kritik the subjectivity of 'Best' but you are allowed to Kritik that 'Power' is even a tangible thing to prioritise.

2. YOU MUST REPRESENT MINIMUM ONE AND MAXIMUM 2 PRIORITIES AS THE ALTERNATIVE.

3. Extending on from Rule 2, you are not permitted to take the stance that aiming for Power is wrong because having a Life Priority is wrong.

4. You cannot stand for 'no information' because this is about actually standing by it, not just selecting it.

5. You cannot simply win by saying 'the best way to aim for power is to deny you aim for it' and then give another example of what to aim for and say 'power comes with this and that's the reason to choose it' unless you can give reasons other than power as to what that gains vs loses. This is about the Life Priority you actually aim for, the one you select can be a lie and maybe even be better chosen to mask that you aim for Power, in order to gain Power here, but that is not relevant to this debate or its permitted angles.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

To win this resolution, pro needs to give me good reasons as to why power is the life priority I should prioritize, and make a reasonable case as to why it is more important to prioritize over each other.

Pros point appears lost in a sea of words in his opening round - which appear more like an opening monologue from a film than a debate.

Out of the entire first round, pros argument appears to be that no matter who you are, or what your goal is: you can’t achieve your goals without power.

Cons counter appears to be that science - or specifically in the context he uses it - the ability to gain or acquire true knowledge - is most important as it is the best and most viable method of achieving your aim.

Out of the two, cons position seems far more nebulous - this is based on a less intuitive interpretation of science a priority - that it applies to acquiring and utilizing knowledge itself. Pros a bit more intuitive.

Essentially though - both sides really fall down on the same points, the only objective reason either side gives is that their priority enables you to achieve your overall goals.

There’s a lot of going around in circles here, and my main issue with cons position is that while I believe he is right that many scientific discoveries and weapons assist with the acquisition of power, Cons argument felt as if either the benefits from science were being used synonymously with science as a priority (by this I mean “guns” are provided by science - and can give you power, but con doesn’t explain how focusing on science can realistically allow me to get a gun), or that the acquisition of knowledge is used synonymously with science: which feels like too much of a stretch.

Because of this, I felt that pros approach was much more intuitive, and plausible - even though much of the case appeared irrelevant - together with con falling short in the overall warrant and not doing enough to convince me : arguments to pro.

Conduct to pro for the forfeit.

S&G to con. Cons argument were readily understandable, and didn’t suffer from any major issues.

Pro on the other hand frequently relied upon overly long and obtuse sentences that were practically unreadable. The length of some sentences was often so large, changed context, and contained so many clauses that a reasonable could not be expected to follow the meaning or information contained therein.

This, in combination with pros inherent verbosity made large swathes of his debate argument seem nonsensical and incoherent.

As a result: S&G to con. (Examples in comments from: https://www.debateart.com/debates/637?open_tab=comments&comments_page=1&comment_number=58)