So I walk into my Communication Studies class and the teacher goes: "Right, you will be preparing a debate on the topic 'That happiness is the art of being well deceived' and you are the affirmative", and I have no clue what the topic means, let alone what to argue in a debate. Is there anyone out there that actually knows what the **** this topic is on about?
why didnt' you ask your teacher for clarrification?
is it possible they are referring to the cliche of "ignorance is bliss"?
Come to think of it, I did actually ask her and she said 'Happiness is just a feeling you get when you temporarily forget about how bad the world is'.
And that is an excellent point, thanks Nes Queen.
Sounds pretty much like it's saying people around all miserable deep down, and happiness is just when you can forget about all that.
Utter crap in my opinion, but you could mention that, like, the most fun things to do (videogames, movies and TV, amusmant parks) are when you can remove yourself from your own miserable life and forget all your woes for a while.
There are a thousand things that could possibly kill me just by breathing, walking outside, etc. Hell, everything nowdays seems to have gained the miraculous ability to give me cancer. I say ignorance is bliss. Unless you're a Curious Carl. Then ignorance is a hideous monster of depression.
Sounds pretty straight forward to me. People use happiness as a way to deceive themselves into thinking their life isn't utter ****. You, as the affirmative, would have to argue that this is entirely true. Probably my stating facts about all the crap that can kill you, and the rate in which people die every year from simple things like tripping. Also, things like the high demand for Prozac and the insane amounts of clinically depressed people could probably help your case.
The only problem is that fact that it's all perspective and how you view things in life. Not to mention happiness could be a lot like a placebo. In that if you truly believe you're happy, then chances are, you just might be. Would that still be deception, or is that real happiness? Or does it even matter?
It sounds like your teacher set up a debate that can't possibly be won. So don't worry about that. He's probably looking for how well you can rebut your opponent's points, your mannerisms, preparitiveness (lol not a real word), and so on.
Just watch the 2 last episodes of Evangelion and you're set.
You'll just end up in a massive mindf[COLOR="White"]u[/COLOR]ck and be too depressed to attend class.
"my debait by looney636
this debaite is about happyness is fake and really the world is really really really really really really really sad. if you dont' agree with me your a BIG DUM DUM DUM DUM POO FACE!!!!!!!! we shod be argueing the fact that you are a dum dum POO FACE
sincerly looney636"
lol internet
Heh, I would hate to debate for something that I myself disagree with. But I guess that's what debate class is for.
That's exactly why I never even considered doing debate.
I agree. I could never be a lawyer for the same reason. Who wants to defend a criminal?
I did tons of debates back in high school (zomg debate team!) and I generally found it easier to pick the side I was against. Plus, it's not so hard once you figure that, to properly debate, you must know the opposition's points and views. So it becomes much easier then.
I didn't say I thought it would be difficult, it just wouldn't be my cup of tea to deliver to my audience that nobody's really happy and we're all depressed on the inside when I think such a notion couldn't be more awful and ridiculous.
Then, on a personal level, it would be difficult for you to defend, right? Which was mainly what I was speaking about. You become more open-minded and accepting.
Or, in the least, you are like me in that you know opposing arguments for the sole purpose of countering them. Then you think up counter-argument counterarguments so that you can counter their counter of your counter. It's all very fun.
Actually that was the very reason my teacher made this debate on this topic...so nobody would win. I don't quite know if that makes sense...since the aim of a debate is to win...but that's what she did.
Thanks for your input, I actually understand what the hell the topic means now.
I'd actually go one further and say that happiness lies in deceiving oneself. It's surprisingly easy to be happy if you just think 'ooh, I'll be happy now.' On the flipside, you can just as easily get depressed if you decide to be. This is why emo is useless, by the way - but by the same token, so is all emotion.
I had a point, but it seems to have run away.
Jesus you're all gay. I contest that sadness is just a feeling you get when you forget how great the world is. OH NOS, I'VE DESTROYED THE RULES THAT GOVORN YOUR VERY EXISTENCE.
I mean come on, I suffer from depression and I don't even agree with that.
And I was saying that the arguments exist together, in that happiness and sadness are just states of mind, and there's no real reason for either of them. All emotion is is what you feel like - therefore, it has to be your own perception. The world is not inherently 'good' or 'bad' - it's just what you convince yourself it is.
[quote]Or, in the least, you are like me in that you know opposing arguments for the sole purpose of countering them. Then you think up counter-argument counterarguments so that you can counter their counter of your counter. It's all very fun.
Same here. The teacher I had for all those classes would always make me argue the opposite of whatever I actually thought so that I had to work instead of just flat out owning people. LOL DEBATE TEAM FTW.
I was 50% of the Linacre debate team, and we **** near would have won if the Judge hadn't decided that there absolutely HAD to be a girl's team in the last match.
And I definitely think there are some strong arguements for the proposition. I especially agree with the Judge. Herodotus wrote once that you should "Call no man happy until he is dead".
[quote=loony636]That could be easily reversed to be 'Happiness is the feeling you get when you forget how crap the world is'. Hey...that'd make an awesome definition.
Since the definition is set, this debate will come down to the teams' ability to prove that the world is a great, or horrible place.
In the words of Wings, you both got my point and missed it entirely.
I've just come around Linko...
But the argument that the only way to experience happiness is to forget about the depressingness of the world...then you're saying that deep down everybody is depressed and they only temporarily forgetting it when they are happy...which is bs.
If happiness is the art of being well deceived, than I must be incredibly ****ing gullible.
Tell your teacher to stop making you think in a depressive manner. It's just a crappy poem line that "makes you think." If that subject line was the debate alone, it was one-sided from the start. The only thing you can say is that it isn't true.
Eh, its a 50/50 paradigm. Is the glass half empty or half full?
There is the possibility that happiness is only momentarily forgetting how unspeakably horrible the world is, and its also possible that depression is temporarily forgetting how wonderful the world is.
I don't take either side because its such a subjective argument that no proof exists for it; the model shifts from person to person.
And that's exactly why they DONT get teachers like this to choose the topics for real debating. This is just one of those crappy classroom debate that nobody but the determined people actually do anything for...She just made it impossible to win for that very reason, so no team could outright win. Since its communication studies, its judging how well we put across our point, not just on what the point actually is.
In real debates they tend to pick ones with topics that are relevant to the present and ones that you can research and get information on, ie, so you can win them.
And I have absolutely no idea when this debate is going to be, so let's keep the emo...I mean depressing arguments rolling in, though all the main points have been covered.
The point of a debate is not really to win. It's to share the views of the other side and reach an acceptable middle-ground.
Also, my glass was full. And it was a bigger glass.
I've always just seen my water as better quality. :D
win lock thread
My glass is more freudian than yours.
Mine is more grim.
And is actually ice, not water.
**** YOUR WATER. /win
Hey, I'd **** your water.
[IMG]http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/5/5d/Brianaction.gif[/IMG]
...Now revoke it.
Now that was uncalled for...and random. We should remane this thread 'Compare your peni...I mean glass size.'
Wow, that really hasn't been deleted yet.
Can't wait to be a Super Mod again.