Mei:

"Debate clubs in schools don't always end in hard feelings, why should this?" 

"Nobody learns without getting it wrong!"

That is true, but think of it this way: in a debate club, everyone takes almost a year to form a topic and good points. They make sure it is phrased in an unoffensive, unbiased way.

On this website, we formulate arguments and rebuttals in minutes. We don't think too hard about how not to offend people.

Think of it this way: if you are driving an expensive car on a highway, would you rather have six or more months to learn how to drive it or 5 minutes? And even though you'll say "oh, if you crash we'll just try again!" you will likely always crash, because no one is telling you in detail how to properly use the car.

And though, after about a hundred times, you may learn, you will have cost yourself hundreds of bucks. 

On this site, we will always have only a little while to form arguments. We cannot have a true, unbiased debate.

And Mei? Please read this post and respond. 

P.S: I'm kind of sick of that Shakira song. No offense, but it's kind of like Let it Go. I liked it for a while, now it's overused. 

A fixed mindset can be never trying again, but it can also be trying something the same way every time.

A growth mindset can be trying again, but it can also be accepting things and thinking out ways in which to solve problems.

It is the difference between banging your head against the wall to try and make a dent and looking for the door (and building the door, if you have to.)

Sometimes you have to accept that things will never work.

For example:

A student shows her teacher an equation that she is very proud of, written neatly on a plain sheet of paper. The paper states, "2+2=22".

The teacher looks at the paper and then shakes her head. "That is incorrect", she says.

That night, the student thinks, "My teacher didn't accept my work this time, but if I have growth mindset and try again, she will eventually!" She uses a piece of extra fancy manilla stationary to write in calligraphy, "2+2=22".

The next day, the teacher shakes her head.

She shakes it every day, but the student never gives up.

Even though the student tries again and again, she will never be correct. This is an example of fixed mindset. A way to use growth mindset in this situation would be to look at the problem from a new angle.

This is my angle: Because everytime we banged our heads against the wall (created a debate thread) we only created bruises on our scalps, we should find a door.

This is my door: Debate threads on CB do not seem to work. Therefore, we should find a new way to debate (think: not online), and a new way to enjoy the CB.

Thanks for reading. 

I officialy unown any comments made by Mai Xue that involve me. That is not my opinion. That is not me.

I don't want to share my name, I got enough problems on the CB with fights. I always get involved when I really shouldn't. When no one should.

Anyways, look at it this way: This whole thread is a genuine debate. You give your opinion, and facts to back it up.

Look what it turned out to be. Gared is refusing to go on CaC, DtE, or PP thanks to this. Abigail is breaking down in anger, as I am right now. This is despicable. You guys can be better than this.

Debates are about convincing the other side you are right but in a nice, logical, mannerly way. Again, this thread IS a debate, but in the wrong way. You guys are proving your points to attack each other. And I have to agree with what Gared first said. He clearly stated that online debates doen't have a genuine sound of voice and come off as rude. 

This is coming off as disrespectful and rude, even if you don't mean it to.

I am sorry, but I think it is true. Please, look back and think about what you guys have been saying. Recently, many CaC threads are debates, and it sickens me. I have nothing against debating, but the way it is coming across is just wrong.

Why?

Because it is online. Online debates lack a proper voice. Sorry. That is all I had to say. 

Guys, just read my plan. It's in Chirp at Cricket. I thint it's totally foolproof.

If you go ahead with a debate thread, no one is obligated to participate. If you're not interested, just stay off the thread.

Admin

Also, I cried last night...

Don't know if this helps anything...but at school we did formal aka structured debating. In formal debate, a topic is picked that most people don't feel most passionate about. That way it can be structured. People choose if they are going to be the for or against team. They do NOT pick the side based on what they believe.  They pick randomly, or it is selected for them. That way, research can be gathered for the sake of gathering research and being able to show both sides. The kind of debate we do is technically not formal or structured. Don't know if we should change that...or if that's not the problem here... 

Honestly, I think we need to stop on this thread. It's causing too many problems. Like an anonymous CBer pointed out on the debate thread, is debating whether Slytherin is evil or not or whatever real worth all this? Call some people cowards for not wanting to do it, but I say they're being careful. On the CB, we're not trying to revolutionize the world. We just want the CB to be a happy community. If this thread gets more out of hand, I say the Admins have every right to shut it down. At least our AE arguments had a reason. We were trying to figure out what rules  we need for our AEs. It was something that was about improving the CB. This, however... I think this is senseless. We're debating about debating. And debates are not something that are everywhere, like AEs are.  We don't need this. We really don't.