Guide to Key Clashes

A lot of fresh debaters, especially whip speakers are often confused when it comes to the idea of key clashes. But the concept behind it is very simple and if you keep to some basic rules it is very easy to properly identify and use Key Clashes.

In one line:

"There are some ideas that go untouched/unrebutted (So, they are already established) and some ideas which are contested. Now contested ideas are said to clash and those clashes that are key to winning the debate are known as key clashes."

Explanation:

As a whip speaker you have already heard at least 32-40mins of debate before you get up to the podium. And within that time, your opponents have obviously argued against your ideas and you have obviously argued against theirs. Now this inevitable disagreement on the various issues of the debate is known as "clash of ideas" or just Clashes for short.

For example, in an "Abortion on Demand" debate if the proposition side speaks about the idea that: "women deserve to have control over their bodies and whether they want to go to labor or not" the opposition might clash with it by saying that: "they can't do so because they are taking an active decision to end a life and all rights stem from the right to life so women don't really have the autonomy to decide on this" then both sides clash on "Women's right to her body vs the child's right to life". Some people would also interpret this clash as: "Whether or not women have the autonomous right to not allow a fetus to develop in her body" but both really mean the same thing.

These clash of ideas can be either a direct clash of constructive arguments or even just rebuttals. So, at the end of the debate you will find many clashes in your hands but, in reality, not all of them are key clashes. Now for a "clash" to be regarded as a "key clash" it must be something special!

This one requires a bit of experience and judgement from your part, but you have to understand which issues are important to win the debate. In the example above it is very clear that the side that wins that clash might as well win the debate since that issue is very important for an "Abortion" debate. So, those clashes involving the major issues in the debate are key clashes.

Conclusion:

To sum up, "You need to":

1. Have a good note of the entire debate.
2. Note down or mark all the ideas that clashed
3. Know which issues are important and weigh them accordingly.
4. On a separate place, note down the more important of these clashes (usually three)

And when you complete the steps above, you will be left with proper key clashes just ready to be analysed! But the analyzing part is for another post, until then...

Cheers!
-Kazi Waseef

Twitter: To FOLLOW or Not to FOLLOW, that is the Q?...

With twitter's insane increase in user base and popularity, it is quite obvious that nowadays an account with 1000+ followers has become the new grounds of showing off your "coolness"...

But instead of hard work and genuine, brilliant ideas users have resorted to spamming and mass-follows to generate more followers. Now some people have embraced this idea as a means of mass socialization and according to them this actually is a much better way of promoting and receiving ideas. Others, consider this a more effective means of online marketing. On the other hand, a massive number of people actually abhors this ideology. They believe that just because someone followed you doesn't necessarily mean that you have to return the favor because if these people have different ideas than you or want different things out of twitter then it is useless to follow them, right.

My ideals were on the first group in the beginning but slowly I shifted towards the second people. Its because I have seen the mass-followers tweet nothing more than just about increasing their follower base. In fact, I have seen a user with 15k+ followers who is still posting "please follow me and I'll follow you back posts"!! That is simply preposterous. Followers are more then just a number on your screen they are (mostly) live human beings and just getting followers to show of a large crowd is just a waste of twitter's potential.

But the truth here is that these twitter users are just human beings and unlike many they lack the long term thoughts required to generate genuine followers. You see, the second group knows that if you have consistent, brilliant ideas then your follower base will increase eventually and these users will actually listen to you rather than just spamming your timeline with advertisement. I believe that when it comes to spreading your ideas, through twitter, blogging or even in "the real world" its a long term process which requires a lot of dedication, hard work and patience and I feel that taking a shortcut to fame always ends in someone falling flat on their face.

To conclude, if you ever face the question of whether to FOLLOW someone back in twitter take a moment and consider your goals. Really, just ask yourself: do you want to be a future success story or a fallen shortcut taker?

WSDC 2011 Dundee, Scotland

Dundee City Council held a competition for schools to design a logo for the World Schools Debating Championship to be held in Dundee, Scotland. The winner was Maryam Deeni, age 12, who attends Harris Academy and the logo above was designed by her.

Summery:

• Foreword
• Team Bangladesh
• Prepared Motions
• Schedule
• About Dundee

Foreword

As we all know, Worlds School Debating Championship 2011, the most prestigious school-level debating title, is going to be held in Dundee, Scotland from 16^th to 26^th August. This post is dedicated to various information related to this high-profile debate tournament and the place where it will be held.

Team Bangladesh

This year, Team Bangladesh's pre-Tournament rankings are at no. 26 with a win average of 3.67. This puts them in group E along with Argentina, Indonesia, USA, Estonia and Bermuda...

Team Bangladesh, comprised of five very talented individuals, are a new team nonetheless from the last year's one and after the nail-biting final phase of National Camp, BDC finally revealed the ones to be representing Bangladesh to be:

1. Saad Ashraf (Maple Leaf)
2. Wasifa Noshin (SunnyDale)
3. Mastura Tasnim (Academia)
4. Taosif Amin Khan (Academia)
5. Fahad Al Amer Khan (Aga Khan School)

After a lot of waiting, the official Draw of Match-ups are out and Team BD's ones are as follows

• Proposition vs. Opposition
• R1: Bangladesh vs. South Africa
• R2: Croatia vs. Bangladesh
• R3: Lithuania vs. Bangladesh
• R4: Bangladesh vs. Slovenia
• R5: Slovakia vs. Bangladesh
• R6: Bangladesh vs. Peru
• R7: Bangladesh vs. Philippine
• R8: Argentina vs. Bangladesh

Best of Luck to them and lets pray that they bring pride and glory to our Nation!!!

Prepared Motions

In total, four preliminary rounds and the Grand Finals will be based on Prepared motions which will be as follows:

• Round One

  
  

  This House would offer dictators immunity in return for leaving power

• Round Three

  
  

  This House believes that Universal Primary Education is a misallocation of
  resources for the developing world

• Round Five

  
  

  This House would legalise the sale of human organs

• Round Seven

  
  

  This House believes that women can only achieve equality under a secular
  system of government

• Grand Finals

  
  

  This House believes that autocracy is doomed in the age of Facebook

Hopefully I'll write a few articles on some of the issues involved in these motions so check back some other time for more information :)

Schedule

This is the official schedule as posted in the WSDC Dundee website...

Tuesday 16^th August

Delegate registration
Arrival dinner at University of Dundee

Wednesday 17^th August

Adjudicator training
Tours of Dundee
Opening ceremony hosted by Lord Provost

Thursday 18^th August

Rounds 1 & 2 – schools
BBQ hosted by University of Dundee

Friday 19^th August

Rounds 3 & 4 – schools
Evening reception hosted by Dundee College

Saturday 20^th August

Round zero, Edinburgh
Arranged Tours in Edinburgh
Evening free

Sunday 21^st August

Rounds 5 & 6 – High School of Dundee
Evening free

Monday 22^nd August

Rounds 7 & 8 – schools
Break night party at University of Dundee

Tuesday 23^rd August

Octo-finals – schools
Tours of the area (optional)
Evening free

Wednesday 24^th August

Quarter finals – HM Frigate Unicorn; RRS Discovery; Dudhope Castle & Al-Maktoum Institute
Semi-finals – University of Dundee
Quiz Night at University of Dundee

Thursday 25^th August

World Council meeting – City Chambers
Grand Final – TBC
Closing Ceremony Ceilidh – Caird Hall

Friday 26^th August

Breakfast and departures

About Dundee

Dundee is set on the banks of the River Tay, described by many as one of the finest settings in Europe. Dundee offers a peerless quality of life, with more hours of sunshine than any other Scottish city and an abundance of green spaces.

Dundee has a long history and has played a pivotal role in the development of Scotland over the centuries. Dundee’s growing status was recognised in 1889 when it was named as a city by Royal Charter.

Modern Dundee is one city with many discoveries encapsulated by world-leading research in the life sciences, a burgeoning digital media sector, vibrant arts and cultural life and a successful local economy which for the third year in a row has been ranked as one of the world’s top seven most intelligent communities by an independent US think tank.

The city has a population of over 143,000 and a travel-to-work population of over 250,000. The population is boosted during academic sessions when over 35,000 people study either in the city’s two universities, its Islamic and Arabic institutions or its local colleges. Education is one of the city’s key sectors, with one in six of the population is a registered student – one of the highest ratios in the UK and Dundee has more young people in full-time higher education per head of population than any other city in Scotland.

One of the key projects for the city at present is Dundee Waterfront, a £350 million project to reconnect the city centre and the River Tay. ‘The V&A at Dundee’ a new £47million centre of 21st century design for Scotland and the world will occupy a prime site at the heart of the Waterfront next to Captain Scott’s ship RRS Discovery.

Dundee boasts tremendous entertainment and sporting facilities including a highly-regarded repertory theatre, an award-winning arts centre and visitor attractions and two football clubs.

The city is well served by pavement cafes and cosmopolitan restaurants in the city centre and the Cultural Quarter.

Dundee is an ideal location for the 2011 World School Debating Championships.

For further information about the city visit www.dundee.com

Any Feedback or comment would be most welcome

Special Thanks to
BDC: http://www.bangladeshdebates.org/
Mr Saad bin Amjad: http://http://bddebate.blogspot.com/
WSDC Dundee website: http://wsdctournament.wordpress.com/

My Blog is ONLINE!!!

Saad Bhai told me over and over again to create a blog so here I go into the world of blogging with this site here. So... wish me luck!!!

Cheers :)