The Debate Bootcamp forum is to be considered a training ground for those who have not demonstrated an ability and/or willingness to debate well.
For those who have full privileges it should not be considered a place to carry on "regular" debates. If you have full privileges you should focuss your posts to the Debate Bootcamp forum on assisting those who need help.
For example:
A "bootcamp" poster posts this message:
Evolution is just a theory it should not be taught as fact in our schools.
The desirable response of more capable posters should NOT be:
You do not know what a scientific theory is. There are facts that show that living things have, in fact, evolved. A scientific theory is NOT just a guess. It is the best explanation that we have for e set of obervations. The fact is that things have evolved. The ToE (theory of evolution) is the scientific explanation of how that happened.
Then more blah blah blah and so on.
Instead you might try something like this:
Thank you Mr Bootcamp. When debating here there are a number of things you should do. Here are some suggestions:
You've stated an opinion widely prevalent among Creationists, and it has been discussed here many times. By perusing some of the old threads you may find that your point of view has been discussed already.
Also, while there's nothing wrong with discussing the topic again, it has been discussed to the point where yet another thread on the topic should provide some fresh insights or have a unique perspective.
If we did discuss this topic you'd quickly discover that the correct meaning of fact and theory are important to this topic. Therefore you might want to research how these words are used within the sciences. You should at least state clearly what your own definitions are since it is apparent from your post that your use of the words (especially theory) are in no what the same as the general use in the scientific community.
For those of us (most all of us I'd say ) who find it difficult to avoid engaging those who are in the "bootcamp" forum let me remind you:
"Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics; even if you win you're still retarded".
If there is any hope for those who are confined to the Debate bootcamp forum it can only come from those who do understand how to conduct themselves both within the forum guidelines and with a general politeness. In addtion, they will require patient teaching from those who are much better at conducting a good debate.
If there is a lot of full on debating done in the Debate bootcamp forum by those who are not restricted to it the solution may be to take those folks and restrict them to it. Get the drift here? mmm?
I would like some thoughts and suggestions from others on the above. Thanks.
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