Mastering Impact Calculus in Debate Rounds
Understand the importance of impacts in debate rounds, learn how to win by emphasizing impacts, compare economic suffering vs. illness during Covid-19, explore various impact comparisons like Economy vs. Environment, and grasp the significance of matters and comparisons in impacting. Practice your skills on the topic of zoos in a debate scenario. Delve into impact calculus and different strategies for comparing arguments effectively.
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Presentation Transcript
Impacts How to Win Debate Rounds We re still working on this!
Impacts are . . . The importance of your arguments They show why your arguments are stronger reasons than your opponents arguments.
Economic versus Life/Safety Impacts Teams might argue Economic Impacts (Jobs, Poverty, Growth) Teams might argue Safety/Life Impacts (Illness, Death, Injury) How would you compare the impacts of economic suffering versus illness and death during Covid-19?
Other Impact Comparisons Economy versus the Environment Freedom versus Safety/Lives Learning versus Fun How about on the topic for today? LET S LOOK AT 2 KEY ASPECTS OF IMPACTING . . .
MATTERS MATTERS: Tells the judge why your argument matters. Eg We showed 1000s of kids get depressed Eg We showed studies show kids learning is hurt and that those kids futures is hurt without that learning
COMPARES COMPARES: Compares your team s arguments to your opponents. Eg We showed Kids depression hits them much harder than any small impact of having fun being on a phone Eg We showed Kids loss of learning affects them for life whereas fun on the phone is just a momentary benefit.
Now: You do it! YOU ARE PRO ON THE ZOOS TOPIC You argue animals are mistreated and suffer in zoo cages The con argues zoos are educational for visitors You ve got 2 minutes to prepare: MATTERS: Tells the judge why your argument matters. COMPARES: Compares your team s arguments to your opponents.
Impact Calculus Often, each side will have important, valuable impacts. We need a strategy to compare different arguments. Impact calculus is a method of comparison of the impacts in the round. The impact calculus helps the judge decide who won the debate LET S LOOK AT 7 WAYS TO DO THIS.
1. Better Argued BETTER ARGUED: You made your argument more strongly. Example 1: We provided 2 reasons the animals suffer 1) mentally from small spaces; 2) body degradation when they aren t hunting and living their lives as they should. The opposing team didn t give reasons or facts to back up how educated people would be after going to a zoo. Example 2: We made the case for how animals suffer. Our opponents did not respond. We know animals suffer versus we ve shown you don t need to go to the zoo to be educated about animals.
2. Probability How likely are the claimed outcomes to actually happen? All else being equal, more probable impacts are preferred to less likely impacts. When might you want to use a less probable impact in a debate round?
3. Magnitude Looks at how big the impacts are. May address who will be affected, or How many people will be involved (how many people could get sick?, how many families will suffer economically?) The bigger the harm, the more convincing your argument is.
Now you do it Again! AGAIN YOU ARE PRO ON THE ZOOS TOPIC You argue animals are mistreated and suffer in zoo cages; you have studies documenting this; you have an animal expert showing thousands of animals are harmed The con responded that zoos are popular with many visitors; supported by a zoo official The con argues zoos are educational for visitors You argue that people can get educated with videos Now Matters, Compares, Better Argued, Probability, Magnitude.
4. Timeframe When will the impacts happen? We showed the loss of jobs will happen almost immediately as businesses fear for their profitability versus a slight chance that in the future there will be some kind of reduction in overall plastic use. Often, impacts that will occur sooner are more convincing than impacts that can take a long time to happen.
5. Brink/Threshold The Brink/Threshold is the point at which the impact will happen You can push a car to the edge of a cliff . . . The Brink/threshold is when the car goes off the cliff and falls How much more debt/unemployment until the economy crashes? How much more of a rise in temperature until climate change can t be stopped?
6. Permanence/Reversibility Is your impact able to be reversed? If the economy crashes can it get better? If species go extinct, can they come back? If an impact is permanent cannot be reversed- -you should note that Judges usually vote to prevent non-reversible impacts versus reversible impacts.
7. Moral Obligation How do you weigh racism versus lives/safety? How do you weigh human responsibility for environmental damage versus economic growth? You can argue that the morality or your impacts trumps the opposing teams impacts. Eg The racism of random police stops is far more important than any chance random police stops prevent crime. Racism is so wrong it hurts and frightens entire groups of people while random police stops don t work well to prevent crime other police efforts can prevent crime much better.
REVIEW 1. Better Argued 2. Probability 3. Magnitude 4. Timeframe 5. Brink/Threshold 6. Permanence/Reversibility 7. Moral Obligation
Now you do it! 1. Better Argued 2. Probability 3. Magnitude 4. Timeframe 5. Brink/Threshold 6. Permanence/Reversibility 7. Moral Obligation You argue Carbon taxes would reduce climate change and that climate change would flood coastal areas, cause storms, fires, disease. Your opponent argued that carbon taxes would hurt businesses and the economy. Now do Impact Calculus!
