The case against debate

It's a skill, but it's not the same as truth-seeking or persuasion

Like the rest of the internet, I’ve been watching viral clips of Mehdi Hasan debating 20 far-right knuckle draggers for nearly two hours.

It’s an impressive display of stamina, poise, and argumentative skill from Hasan, who is quite good at this sort of thing. He even published a book called “Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking,” which might sound like an arrogant title, but he really is an incredible live debater. Whether you agree with his overall political views or not (in some ways, especially if you don’t), you could probably learn some things from him. I do share most of Hasan’s political views, so I think it’s fun to watch him kick some butt.

But of course, we don’t agree about everything. And it strikes me that I’ve rarely found myself persuaded by a clip of Hasan, or anyone else, outdebating someone.

That’s one reason I’ve generally stopped accepting invitations to debate in this format. I know a lot of people who participated in competitive debate as high school or college students, and they had fun with it. But that’s really what debate is: a kind of competitive sport that, while thematically related to a potentially useful undertaking, is fundamentally distinct from it. As far as entertainment goes, there’s much worse brain rot out there. But this sort of politics as entertainment can convince you that you’re learning more than you really are.

Don’t overrate your side of the argument

Most people who disagree with you have no idea what they’re talking about.

They’re generally pretty dumb and haven’t spent much time interrogating their own views, and they certainly haven’t bothered to form even a minimally coherent intellectual or moral approach to the world. They may invoke particular principles to defend their specific commitments, but those principles are so inconsistently applied that it almost feels like bad faith.

This is all completely true. But it’s easy to forget that it’s also true of people who agree with you.