Thursday, September 22, 2011

The Use of Debate in Science

Debate: A formal interactive discussion of opposing ideas on a specific topic.

Debate in science is a way of handling disputes over theory since both sides get to make their case. A common example of this is debates on Creation Vs Evolution how ever it seldom actually settles the dispute.

A long as both sides get to make their case it is a chance to learn about the other side as well as one’s own. It works best when both sides are given equal footing and respect which doses not always happen.

Since debate seldom actually settles the dispute and one side can actually get insulting ruining the discussion in practice it is only as useful as the participants’ ability to learn from it. If no one learns anything from a debate it’s a waste of time.

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