The Beginnings of Debate
Socrates, Aristoteles and Aristippus debating in Elysium (heaven).
Debate is an ancient form of argumentation. It was first used as a way to resolve quarrels, but it soon became apparent that it could also be used as a tool to teach people how to think critically and argue effectively.
It originated in Greece, around 500 B.C. There, Socrates used it in his philosophy classes at the Academy in Athens—so it's safe to say there's a strong precedent for the merits of debate.
The Roman orators Cicero and Quintilian were masters of debate. They taught their students how to argue both sides of an issue so well that their opponents didn't even know they were being argued into a corner until it was too late!
How do we have orderly debate?
Though Parliamentary Procedures – A set of accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing debate, meeting, assembly, or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or the will of the majority of the assembly upon the questions.
Do we have a Parliamentary manual?
Yes, Robert's Rules of Order is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States. It governs the meetings of a diverse range of organizations—including church groups, county commissions, homeowners' associations, nonprofit associations, professional and social societies.
When is a debate no longer a debate?
When we disrespect the people, we disagree with! The problem is no longer about the disagreement, the real problem is one of personal bias.
When we have a confirmation bias, when someone only seeks to listen to people they agree with. We will disrespect one another, we won't debate the disagreement, we will argue our positions/perspectives and that only places a barrier of negativity between us. We will never resolve the disagreement!
However, when we have a collaboration bias, one where we seek out people that think different from us, who have a different perspective of us. We'll talk it out, while we may never come to 100% agreement on the issue, and that's OK, we will be able to resolve or at least reach compromise on the disagreement.