2017-08-02

【Aiden in English】

        I must say, it feels really good to start debating now. I love it. The entire camp up to this point has been essentially note-taking and minimal public speaking. However, there is a saying that the best way to learn is simply to go for it. And today was a leap of faith in a particular direction.

        We started off the day with a normal class of note-taking and questions, eventually making a list of Pro-Con debates. After a while, the teacher must’ve noticed more than a few bored students, which is understandable. He then decided to jump ahead to some competition, as all teachers pretty much know that the smarter the class, the higher the competitive spirit.

        Evidence is a key factor within the debate. Whether it is real or not, the evidence is what powers the debate and arguments forward. I did not enjoy the meaningless information given by the students at the public school, some pieces outdated and others straight up untrue. Therefore, we looked at the many reasons that could corrupt evidence. 

        The instructors describe the debate as explaining the topic to a seven-year-old child: the debaters always have to define every term a young kid wouldn’t understand. Our instructor then elaborated to say that evidence should also follow this rule as well: give every piece of useful credential. For example, when a study showing how fifty percent of students lack sleep, this can be torn up because of the lacking information to verify truthfulness.

        More importantly, today was the first day of an actual debate. After choosing a partner, we had a spark debate. I paired up with an American kid from Brooklyn, New York, who really wanted to win the debate, so I took it just as seriously. The topic was that parents should lie about Santa Claus, which sounds absurd to me. I never experienced too much of the Santa Claus baloney, as most Asian parents are very straight up to their children and give them cold, hard cash from a young age. Regardless, I totally understand the weight behind this topic. Within each debate, both sides had to find their values. We were chosen as Con, and the resolution for us was “parents should not lie to their children about Santa Claus”. Our value was the idea of lying in society, and its possible effects. Although a simple topic like this is presented, the degrees to which difficulty we take it can very easily surpass the first impressions.

        It was a five-minute preparation, impromptu debate, which resulted in chaos. No need to divulge a winner because everyone was still learning, including me. The end result mostly fell to the judge, just gave criticism to both sides. However, even for just a taste, the debate was, above all, fun.

【紅霞譯文】

        我承認即將參與辯論的感覺真好，格外招人喜愛，在此之前辯論營基本上只是做些筆記間或搞點演講活動，不過俗話說得對，最佳學習方式莫過於循序漸進，今天趕在這個節骨眼上恰好放膽一試。

        一開始我們仍然寫要點提問題，最終方才起草正方反方辯論程序。過了一會，老師注意到不少學生閒得無聊，這不難理解。於是他決定先搞個比賽小試牛刀，英雄所見略同，老師們恐怕都明白越是上進的班級比賽鬥志越是旺盛。

        證據是辯論中的關鍵因素，不管是否真實，它是駁論與結辯的前提，我不喜歡公立學校學生所提供的無用信息，那些不是過時的資料就是虛假的東西，因此我們有足夠理由排除這些證據。

        授課講師們以向一位七歲兒童解釋標題的口吻來描述辯論：辯論者總要給懵懂的孩童講解字義，接下來他闡明證據同樣遵循這一規則：拿出有用的憑證。舉例來說，當一項研究表明50%的學生缺覺，這條信息因缺乏驗證真實性而被擱置一邊。

        更重要的是，今天是實戰辯論的第一天，在選好搭檔之後，我倆閃亮登場。我的隊友是一位來自紐約布魯克林的美國男孩，他特別想贏這場辯論，因此我也得全力以赴。手頭的論題是“父母應該隱瞞聖誕老人真相”，在我看來荒唐無稽。我從來沒有聽過太多聖誕老人閒話，多數亞洲父母對其子女非常率真，直接送給小孩現金鈔票。無論怎樣說，我完全明白這個論題背後所隱含的分量。每場辯論雙方必須找出自己的立論，我們選擇站在反方立場，其結辮是“父母不應隱瞞聖誕老人真相”，論點源於社會根基及可能造成的影響。儘管爭辯的內容簡單直白，我倆在很大程度上拓寬思路，輕鬆地超越第一印象。

        今天先給出五分鐘準備時間，隨後即興辯論，結果亂成一鍋粥，在此沒必要公布最後贏家，畢竟人人仍處在學習階段，包括我個人在內。結果多由評委決定，對雙方表現進行評議。然而即使初嘗喜悅，辯論十分有趣。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: Mesoamerican Biological Corridor(南下中美洲生物通道)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

2017: Capitol Debate Camp Day-3(國會辯論夏令營第三天)

2017: Capitol Debate Camp Day-2(國會辯論夏令營第二天)

2017: Capitol Debate Camp Day-1(國會辯論夏令營第一天)