‘Debate me!’ doesn’t work. Here are better ways to disagree – and maybe change minds

By Lisa Pavia-Higel, Assistant Teaching Professor of English and Technical Communication, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Spend time on social media and you will see debates with titles like “I destroy MAGA mom on vaccines” or “Conservative philosopher owns feminist student.” These popular videos focus on clip-worthy gotcha questions, one-line zingers and screaming matches edited for virality.

These “debates” would be unrecognizable to the Founding Fathers, who enshrined debate as a primary tool of legislative deliberation. Even the passionate exchanges of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen…

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