I can't study all the time, right?
Jun. 3rd, 2012 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkYesterday we had a debate training in Budapest! \o/ Three teams from Vienna and one team (with changing members) from Budapest, so it was almost a private training for us by M.Z., the head of their club and a very good debater. I slept in the car on the way because I only got two hours sleep the night before and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to think, but actually it went very well and was a lot of fun!
First round was "T(his )H(ouse )W(ould) censor fairy tales". K. and I were closing opp(osition), which was the perfect position. We expected the government to talk about brutality in fairy tales, but instead they said that fairy tales are dangerous because they promote a false dichotomy of good vs. evil and false expectations about the world that children under six should be protected from etc. Which is an interesting angle for a debate imo. First opp had some good points about the parents choosing the fairy tales and therefore the values that their child is confronted with in these fairy tales, and 1st prop(osition) chose Cinderella as an example that fairy tales promote bad values, like passivity etc. Which made it easy for me to start by giving 5-10 examples of fairy tales promoting different values (among others Hansel and Gretel, Brave Little Tailor, and my favorite, The Seven Ravens), reject their definition of fairy tales (they said they all had a deus ex machina moment and no call to action) and claim that their arguments only meant that Hollywood chose the wrong fairy tales to make movies out of. Then I talked about the importance of stories for little children instead of simple facts, and because 2nd opp had a much less relevant extension we won! \o/
I think it was the best debate of the day, and not just because we won. But I'm very glad we were on opp side, so either I convinced myself too well or it's not a fair motion.
Next round was not so good, the motion was "THW withdraw aid from countries in which sexual minorities suffer from extreme human rights violations." K. and I were 1st gov, always a very difficult position to be in and especially in such a complicated motion. We missed several key concepts and came last.
After lunch the motion was "THB(elieves )T(hat) fear is a more powerful emotion than love." A very open motion that needs to be contextualized by 1st gov, but they didn't (and neither did we in 1st opp), and the result was an extremely unclear debate in which K. and I got first because we were the least bad. For this debate M. told us to tie the speakers' hands behind their back so that they had to rely on their voice instead of on gestures, which was useful for training and incidentally led to some fun innuendo ;-)
Last motion: "THW ban credit cards." The confusing part here was that 1st gov failed to define credit card - maybe not a problem for native speakers, but all of us were confused whether or not that included cash cards (far more widely used in Austria and I think Europe in general?) and electronic money in general. I made an extension that linked credit cards to the financial crisis and we came second.
Which meant that K. and I made an average of 2 points per debate, meaning we were the best team from Vienna! \o/ (I don't know about the Hungarian team, but they switched members so they don't really count anyway *g*) We work well together, I think: I'm better at finding a logical structure for our arguments, and she often brings in good ideas and comparisons.
A funny detail: K. and I were the only two people from Vienna who are not going to the EUDC (European Debating Championship.)
Now that I have a paid account I could have a debate icon. Hm. I don't know where best to find icons...
Today, after five hours of sleep, was the Austrian's Women's Run! It was a lot of fun. Because I couldn't persuade any of my friends to run with me I made my own motivational team. The Doctor and Aeryn Sun were the most effective: 5k in a little over 35 min, and considering that I didn't train at all I'm happy :)
And now, before I start panicking and counting the hours until the *"§$=§"$% paper is due, I will stop procrastinating and get some sleep.
First round was "T(his )H(ouse )W(ould) censor fairy tales". K. and I were closing opp(osition), which was the perfect position. We expected the government to talk about brutality in fairy tales, but instead they said that fairy tales are dangerous because they promote a false dichotomy of good vs. evil and false expectations about the world that children under six should be protected from etc. Which is an interesting angle for a debate imo. First opp had some good points about the parents choosing the fairy tales and therefore the values that their child is confronted with in these fairy tales, and 1st prop(osition) chose Cinderella as an example that fairy tales promote bad values, like passivity etc. Which made it easy for me to start by giving 5-10 examples of fairy tales promoting different values (among others Hansel and Gretel, Brave Little Tailor, and my favorite, The Seven Ravens), reject their definition of fairy tales (they said they all had a deus ex machina moment and no call to action) and claim that their arguments only meant that Hollywood chose the wrong fairy tales to make movies out of. Then I talked about the importance of stories for little children instead of simple facts, and because 2nd opp had a much less relevant extension we won! \o/
I think it was the best debate of the day, and not just because we won. But I'm very glad we were on opp side, so either I convinced myself too well or it's not a fair motion.
Next round was not so good, the motion was "THW withdraw aid from countries in which sexual minorities suffer from extreme human rights violations." K. and I were 1st gov, always a very difficult position to be in and especially in such a complicated motion. We missed several key concepts and came last.
After lunch the motion was "THB(elieves )T(hat) fear is a more powerful emotion than love." A very open motion that needs to be contextualized by 1st gov, but they didn't (and neither did we in 1st opp), and the result was an extremely unclear debate in which K. and I got first because we were the least bad. For this debate M. told us to tie the speakers' hands behind their back so that they had to rely on their voice instead of on gestures, which was useful for training and incidentally led to some fun innuendo ;-)
Last motion: "THW ban credit cards." The confusing part here was that 1st gov failed to define credit card - maybe not a problem for native speakers, but all of us were confused whether or not that included cash cards (far more widely used in Austria and I think Europe in general?) and electronic money in general. I made an extension that linked credit cards to the financial crisis and we came second.
Which meant that K. and I made an average of 2 points per debate, meaning we were the best team from Vienna! \o/ (I don't know about the Hungarian team, but they switched members so they don't really count anyway *g*) We work well together, I think: I'm better at finding a logical structure for our arguments, and she often brings in good ideas and comparisons.
A funny detail: K. and I were the only two people from Vienna who are not going to the EUDC (European Debating Championship.)
Now that I have a paid account I could have a debate icon. Hm. I don't know where best to find icons...
Today, after five hours of sleep, was the Austrian's Women's Run! It was a lot of fun. Because I couldn't persuade any of my friends to run with me I made my own motivational team. The Doctor and Aeryn Sun were the most effective: 5k in a little over 35 min, and considering that I didn't train at all I'm happy :)
And now, before I start panicking and counting the hours until the *"§$=§"$% paper is due, I will stop procrastinating and get some sleep.
