Competitive debate

About

Competitive debate is a form of debate in which each participant has the goal that their position should prevail over all other positions.

Most broadcast debates (especially televised political debates) tend to be competitive in nature, with the central issue typically being which candidate should be elected to a particular office. The format of broadcast debates makes it all but impossible for participants to remain rational in their arguing as the amount of time for responding is limited, there is essentially no time allotted for research or analysis, and the number of iterations permitted is extremely small.

The intent of this design seems to be one of finding the candidate who can best convince others of some predetermined agenda, rather than the candidate who has the best understanding of the existing problem-space and how to address it. This, in turn, suggests strongly that this debate format was chosen by oligarchs more interested in controlling "the masses" via rhetorical deception than in actually solving problems, much less serving the goals of a free, democratic society.