#debate bros

[your-worst-boy]

[bougierthanthou]

Debate has become so fucking pointless at least to me. What is the point anymore? We're really gonna engage with people that are willfully ignorant so they can make bad faith arguments based on misinformation? And for the intellectually elitist debate bros that thrive on one upping these people, congratulations you confused an idiot, NOW WHAT? Because at the end of the day nothing got done and your opposition walked away with their ignorance still in tact. If anything it's a distraction from real work and real discourse.

[positively--speculative]

The so-called "debate bro" is really usually a dude who doesn't feel like he's anything he tries to make himself out to be online. He's not rational. He's not smart. He doesn't value logic. The web is the only place he can feel powerful, because he doesn't have to face any consequences for his behavior. He likely doesn't demand a debate from anyone who disagrees with him in person, and even if he did, he wouldn't push it and insist that not debating with him is an automatic loss and he wouldn't insist you have to agree he's smarter than you as a result. He will do this online, but he knows doing it in person will earn him an ass kicking. He'll also do it online because he knows that many online are ill-equipped to back up their side. He would never dare show up to an actual debate.

The debate bro is just a sad, silly man who can only ever feel big by annoying people online, because he likely has no one who wants to deal with his shit in person. It must he a really sad existence to never want to grow and learn while desiring to be seen as the smartest person online.

[originalleftist]

I hate toxic Fan Bro nerds and Debate Bros, I hate how manipulative they are in every conversation, I hate how they will shamelessly tell the most brazen and obvious lies, and the more you call them on it the more they'll double down, I hate their condescension and passive aggression, I hate their bigotry and how they're basically Alt. Reich/incels but pretend that because they're nerds on the internet they're more liberal intelligent than your average red cap-wearing MAGA, I hate how they will twist your words and shift the goal posts and use every trick they can just so they can score points and boast that they won a petty debate that makes them feel important, and I hate that the more I hate them, the more I behave like them in return.

I really need to learn that you can't argue with them. Unfortunately, the slippery fucks will sometimes start out sounding semi-reasonable and rope you in before they start lying and twisting your words and shifting goalposts, and at that point you either have to suck it up and walk away, in which case they'll crow that you have no evidence and have lost the argument because you refuse to back up you points, or argue back and get drawn into the bottomless mire.

Christ, there is no creature more infuriating than an internet nerd bent on proving their superiority by gatekeeping their favourite media that they hate every part of except the one part they think "real fans" like.

[judes-dump]

Being a Vaush-Pilled armchair anarchist back in 2020-2021 was like really bad for me like i lost a year of my social life to fake political debate with transphobes on twitter and armchair Marxists on discord but I will say it sure was fun

I can understand why vaush and especially Hasan have so much of a fanbase

It sucks when your on the outside and realise what a nothing burger it all is but when your in the thick of it OMEGALULing at nazis on the internet

Cant say it isn't a good time

[mangrotin]

Ben shapinio

grifter

[junkieboyfriend]

Men: I experience no emotion; I am the most logical creature to ever exist. I know everything (except what meta data means), I am the ultimate debater!

Also men: I HATE WOMEN!! ALL YOU GIRLS ARE THE SAME!! ALL YOU WANT IS MONEY AND A GUY WHO'S ABOVE 6FT!! ALL WOMEN EVER THINK ABOUT IS CAPITAL AND WE MUST COMPETE WITH THE TOP 20% OF MEN TO EVEN HAVE A CHANCE!!

The lady they paid to sit there on the podcast: So, um, I don't necessarily agree-

Men: GET HER ASS OUT OF HERE!! SHE REALLY THOUGHT SHE DID SOMETHING WITH THAT!!

[valentine--x]

DNI/dont try to debate if you can't read/type English at MINIMUM of a highschool junior level - for the love of GOD please, if you can't structure an argument and cite correctly don't get in my asks to debate me, its not fun for you and it's not fun for me

You need to know how and when to use figurative language, make allegories, and allusions properly, otherwise Im not having an intellectual discussion with you. You need to know how to understand metaphors. This isnt even a debate thing just please learn how to read and write 😭

And please, commas, commas, commas, I cant understand you if you're not using proper English in long bodies of text

[actual-corpse]

Someone PLEASE explain to me why "debaters" talk like this.

It gets nothing done, and it makes you look stupid. Like. Tell us you don't actually know what's going on without outright saying it.

People who use this kind of "gotcha" language appear insecure about their views and are displaying a complete disregard for other people and individual thought.

It shows that you have nothing of value to add to your argument because you don't know what you're fighting for or against. It proves that you're too lazy to do your own research and think for yourself.

"Libtards" are honestly trying to understand what you think and want to have civil conversation. The only people getting hostile are those who don't know what they're talking about, so they resort to ad hominem claims.

These are also the type of people to argue with a professional about their profession. They honestly believe they know more about the weather than a meteorologist. They're going to tell me (someone who thoroughly studied advertising) that they know more about the industry and how evil it is (it isn't. Your anger is misplaced) when they definitely didn't study advertising (this fight has nothing to do with diploma level. You could have a doctorate but still know fuck all about a field you didn't study).

[somethingofzerointerest]

Exactly. They never want to have a genuine debate, they just want to try and twist the conversation to humiliate you, boost their ego and "validate" their own world view. A lot of these people who are constantly begging others to debate them go into it with closed minds and don't actually care about having a good faith, constructive conversations and instead just want to put people they view as opposition down. They don't care about actually finding a solution or understanding or the truth, and they'll probably just resort to dirty tricks, disregarding everything you say by default or declaring themselves the winner, regardless of what was even said during the debate (I personally don't even believe that a debate should have a winner).

You're not obligated to debate anyone who comes in bad faith or to provide a platform to people with hateful ideologies. Not wanting to be around a bunch of hateful, close-minded people isn't an echo chamber, it's just not tolerating people who harbor harmful ideologies and view other groups of people with malicious intent. Instead of providing these people platforms or extending to them any amount of tolerance or legitimacy, focus on the ways you can actually make things better for the people, communities, and movements you support.

I'll also see these people say that no one wanting to debate them is proof that their ideology is correct. I'm just gonna cut to the chase and tell you that that's a weak argument because you are declaring yourself correct without ever backing yourself up or providing any real reasoning as to why you are correct, your only "proof" of being correct is other people ignoring you. If you're one of the people being asked to debate someone like this, honestly they're not worth your time and effort because they will always find a way to spin it so that they come out on top. The best move is to honestly just ignore them and let them live in their own little world of being wrong because it's highly unlikely any interaction you have with them will bring any positive results.

I should also clarify that I'm not saying you should close yourself off to all discussions or conversations that might challenge your world view, because some people genuinely do enter them with good faith and the intent of it being productive, but it seems like most of the time on the internet that is not the case and it will just end up a waste of time, and everyone involved just becoming more closed off in a bubble of their own views. So instead of indulging these people by partaking in their ill-intentioned debate that is rigged for you to lose, focus on doing something that is more productive and has a real, positive impact.

Got way more into this than I expected but, eh, what the hell.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[hellyeahheroes]

How Debate Got Stupid by Wisecrack

[just-your-average-cryptid]

The Christian Debate Bros are not There to Debate You.

Earlier today, I passed by a table setup in the student union courtyard on my college campus, with a decent crowd around it. Seeing the challenge emblazoned on the covering and across the desk, I groaned:

EVOLUTION IS IMPOSSIBLE. PROVE ME WRONG AND WIN $1000.

There was a mic, some cameras, and a person handing out flyers with their "evidence" that evolution isn't real (this was of the 'microevolution happens but not macroevolution' flavor a la Young-Earth Creationists). They had a TV set up as well with some kind of presentation running on it. Students were lining up to take them on or gathering around to watch.

I passed it at first, trying to catch a bus and not yet willing to sacrifice my sanity talking to these people. After waiting half an hour to find out that route was, for some reason, not running despite this being the one day it's supposed to - and the one day I could and needed to use it - suffice to say I was pissed and ready to vent a little frustration.

I wasn't really planning to take it seriously; I knew this wasn't designed to be winnable or in good faith, but I thought I might be able to have a little fun wearing them down by refusing to shut up until I was forced to. However, watching people go up one by one to "debate," seriously or not, I noticed something.

The conversation very quickly veered away from any discussion of evolution and towards what seemed to be their true target: religion, God, and whether us misguided nonbelievers were doomed to the flames.

I had been chatting with some of the other observers and contenders for most of the two hours I spent standing there, but towards the end I was preparing what to say and listening to the tail end of the current person's "debate" - they ended up being the last person, since they packed up afterwards.

Like with everyone else, it started with evolution and the usual flawed arguments against it, but the two people behind the table always quickly turned the topic towards religion. Being the primary focus of their anti-evolution argument, it might not have been so odd if it didn't seem so intentional that the supposed premise was dropped as soon as they could steer the conversation in a more theological direction.

See, that's the whole point. They're not there to give away a thousand dollars or be convinced evolution is possible/real, they're there to convert you or turn you into content.

Remember the mic? The cameras? This was being recorded, if not streamed, to whoever follows these people. They were there to advertise their event later that night, sure, to stir up some controversy, of course, but they were there to get free content from broke college students who took the bait.

The flyers? Stacks of them, handed out from the sidelines for people to take home. To pore over. To throw out, probably, for most, but some wouldn't. Some of them would wrack their brains trying to disprove it and fall short, by design. Their argument, as obviously false as it is, isn't falsifiable, by design.

At best, you get used for clicks and views and making "owning the libs atheist destroyed" content slop for their followers.

At worst? You become one of those followers.

I'm sure if there wasn't money on the line, they'd be ignored. That's why it's there in the first place. They know their audience, after all.

So what are you supposed to do when they show up? Keep walking. Let them sit there in the heat/cold/rain/etc. for hours, for nothing. Do. Not. Engage.

If you're that set on it, though, at least keep these rules in mind:

The premise is a lie. Knowing that, be as stubborn as possible in keeping the conversation focused on that premise. Don't let them control the conversation, keep your feet planted on the point they claim to care about.

The framework is a trap. In this case, the intelligent design framework was a trap to get into purely theological territory. Knowing that, don't engage with their framework. In line with point #1, focus on the stated premise and do not budge until forced.

The prize is an illusion. You're not getting it. Knowing that, don't take it or them seriously. It's bait. Don't fall for it.

You are there to be content. Knowing that, be bad content. Be calm, be boring, be casual. They want you to get upset and scramble so their audience can see you upset and scrambling. If possible, make them look like bad hosts or debaters when they interrupt or try to change the subject. If you really want to get spicy, anytime they claim to know "God's will" or "God's design" ask them how - did he tell them personally? is that heresy?

You are there to be converted. Knowing that, don't let them convince you. You know they're wrong, you know this is a setup, you know they don't care how strong your points are. If they're handing out flyers, don't take them. If they're holding a talk or event later, don't go. It's not worth your time and it's not worth your life.

Ideally, of course, you ignore them and they get no content out of six hours of sitting there demanding to be debated, but this is real life and sometimes you wanna be petty. I would hope, at least, that you'll be safely and smartly petty.

[mee-op]

i will never get over how defensive vaush got when professor flowers called white people colonisers

[sabotabby]

For a guy who hates socialism so much, Ben sure gets publicly owned.

[prole-my-tariat]

Why do people defend Vaush and Destiny so fucking much… I just don’t get it. Why go to the ends of the earth to protect these entitled men?

I’m not saying you can’t watch them, just hold them accountable. They aren’t infallible beings.