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What's the difference between discussion and debate?
bobtheskull:
I gotta say, Ashton nails the difference between discussion and debate.
However, I don't really like how he used my nick here in the examples. I've never called anyone names here. I called one person a hypocrite but it's hardly the same as calling someone stupid.
Ashton, did you really view my posts like that or were you simply writing an example?
iago:
--- Quote ---Ashton, did you really view my posts like that or were you simply writing an example?
--- End quote ---
I would consider the nicknames used in the example to be picked because they're from the thread that kicked this one off, not because they particularly adhered to any one role. It may as well be Dick and Jane.
CarolM:
Meanwhile back to the difference between discussion and debate. When I want to know the meaning of a word I consult the Oxford English dictionary. Of course this only gives the English English meanings not the US English ones. (You know what I mean I'm sure).
Denate =
--- Quote ---noun 1 a formal discussion in a public meeting or legislature, in which opposing arguments are presented. 2 an argument.
--- End quote ---
Discussion=
--- Quote ---• noun 1 the action or process of discussing something. 2 a conversation or debate about a topic. 3 a detailed treatment of a topic in speech or writing.
--- End quote ---
I've underlined the words I think relevant. Not a lot of difference in meaning as far as I can see. Perhaps the difference is in common usage? Possibly Debate is a more formal term?
But I'm no English major, I stopped short at A level English literature.
DragonFire:
Everyone who's posted has seemed to say that discussion is collaborative, and debate is with opposing views.
But I see some issues trying to split these on a board.
FOr instance, if you have a 'discussion' topic, does that mean no one is allowed to disagree? Might make for a very boring thread.
What if somone starts a 'discussion' topic on, say Murphy getting the Sword, and someone else wants to point out the virtues of Thomas getting it. Is that changing it to a debate?
Or if someone wants to debate Murphy/Thomas, does this mean a new thread has to be created specifically for that purpose?
I think most threads have a mixture of discussion/debate in them, and that works.
Everyone seems to have a different definition, and I worry that if we set a 'discussion corner', people will start reporting everything that doesn't seem to agree with their theory.
Case in point, I thought bobtheskull was happy to debate the topic with me, till he suddenly said he wasn't.
iago:
Hm. So, if the definitions of the two terms are ambiguous (as I privately suspected they would be), what's a better way of discussing this? Are we thinking something more like "Admiration vs. Confrontation" or the like?
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