New Debate Tournament Qualification Entries.

The Debate Final beyween OIMD and Ktprktpr has now been completed and the judges will soon be sending me their verdicts.

Either OIMD will retain his title of Debate Champion or Ktpr will take it from him.Either way the Champion will need challenging.

Recently a qualification question was posted for the new tournament and I'm pleased to say that I have received 7 entries.

The question was:If Aliens visit Earth,Why have they not revealed themselves to the general populace???

The entries appear pasted below.
Only 4 will qualify to start the tournament.It will be the job of the 7 original judges to grade each entry 1-7.
But I also want to get all members views so please indicate using the poll which entry you thought was best.

Although only 4 will take part in the tournament proper,all 7 entrants will receive 500 ATS points each.


Entry A Loki


Extraterrestrials, in their eternal mystery, have decided to not reveal themselves in any overt manner to the populace. Why that is, is anybody's guess. However, one thing stands to reason, in regards to this, the most asked question in relation to extraterrestrial life. There are several possible answers, of course, but one is the definitive solution. Research. If Homo Sapiens Sapiens, better known as mankind were to begin exploration on a scale similar to that of any alien species I'm aware of, we would also try to keep ourselves hidden, as we would be conducting massive research before making first contact. Now, what they are researching, is, in my opinion quite obvious. They are taking samples from human beings, so that they will know exactly how dangerous we are to one another. Let us say for example that the extraterrestrials in question exhale methane as a byproduct of their biological functions. methane is a very harmful substance to us, so it would not be strange to make sure that we are compatible in that sense, hence the hiding from mankind while visiting earth.


Entry B Tassadar.


Aliens have visited Earth, however, they keep their existence concealed due to fear of disturbing the people of Earth and spawning a worldwide assault upon the aliens. The aliens which are here on Earth actually are peaceful, however, they do not believe the general populace of mankind has achieved the required intellectual maturity to comprehend the arrival of extra-terrestrial beings. They have studied our cultural history for the past fifty years and are obviously aware of the implications they would create by revealing their presence here on Earth. All of Earth's major relgions would collapse. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and all other mono-theist relgions would fall apart. Anarchy would reign over Earth. Then, of course, your fanatical extremists who have watched MIB too many times would simply go crazy. If the alien entities on Earth presented their existence to any country, that country would almost instantly rival the United States as a world superpower. The aliens have cloaked their existence from the people of humanity to protect us, not destroy us.

Entry C Gazrock.


The simple answer is, because the general populace would not approve of the reasons for the visits. If their reasons were benign, or they had helpful intentions....certainly, there would be no need for the secrecy. What little evidence there is, seems to support the idea that aliens are responsible for the abduction of quite a few members of the world's population.

There are numerous supporting documents that there has been cooperation between these beings, and the US and other governments, in perpetuating the cover-up. Many such documents have yet to be proven false, and indeed, seem quite genuine. This is further collaborated by numerous witness testimonials, including high-ranking officials, and deathbed confessions (which are admissable in court as evidence).

Furthermore, abduction accounts occur all over the globe, and though they are all of different cultures, and do not share the same pop culture, their accounts of the experience are eerily similar. Obviously something is going on here...

One thing is certain, their motives must not be agreeable to us, lest they wouldn't need to abduct against our will. Of course, there are other reasons, such as fears that we wouldn't understand them, and would simply attack them, etc. But, these explainations fail when taking abductions, and accounts of other unsavory activities, into consideration. The simple answer is, they haven't announced themselves, because mankind would not approve of their motives.

Entry D xaos.


If aliens were to be here, they almost certainly wouldn`t reveal themselves immediately. They would wait, and slowly acclimatize us to their prescence. They would only come out (proverbially) when we were so accustomed to them that we could safely discover them ourselves. They would use the same technique that late twentieth century anthropologists and primatologists used, hiding from the tribe/apes, and slowly giving hints of their prescence until the tribe/apes were comfortable with them. If they were to use the approach that westerners used with the new world, bursting in upon them and sending their lives into chaos, it would destroy humanity, just as we destroyed Native American culture and life. They would bring diseases and intoxicants, and send our society into disarray. This is only assuming that they could make the journey to earth. To get here they would need to utilize wormholes, or be coming from a different reality. I have no space here to explain my theories on these, sorry. Maybe in a debate.


Entry E FaithDefender.


My first theory on why aliens have not made their presence known on Earth is because they probably know the Government would silence anyone who believed they were real. My second theory on why aliens do not make their presence known is because they are probably afraid of being captured by the government and being stuck in a two way mirror. My third theory, gain with the government, is because if they did, the government would not stand for something to go against are close minded lifestyle, so therefore, they would probably take them in and experiment on them, then when they were through, let them die from �natural causes� My third theory actually has nothing to do with the government, but with the community itself. I think after they did make their presence known, the larger group of the public would not believe them and would probably react the way all people do when confused, and would probably try and forever silence them by killing them and therefore ending that race forever.


Entry F stumpy


If Aliens visit Earth,Why have they not revealed themselves to the general populace???

1. We would Kill them. We have proven time and time again that when we ecounter things we do not understand, as humans and citizens of earth, we first take them into captivity, and doo them far more harm, that we recieve good from the captivity. The result is often the destruction of that which we do not understand.
2. If their intention are to find a suitable home for them to inhabit as their planet or system destruct (a favorite scifi storyline) they woudl not want to let us know, becasue we could end up destroing our own planet before they had a chance to inhabit it.
3. if their intentions are simply evil, they woudl want to study us unobserved (liek the way scientists don't let the mice know they are being watched, or pharmeceutical studies are 'double blind') Unannouced, they could gather far more pertinent info
4. if their purposes are merely scientific, see point 3, it still applies
5. if their purposes are magnanimous, they still need a healthy time for observation to be able to understand how they can best help us. Additionally they could choose to work form within, to accomplish their goals without disturbing our environment (which we would disturb if we knew they were here)

Entry G NinjaoftheNight

There are several reasons for the aliens activities being hidden from the public. #1 The public is not ready for this. The government would not be able to handle the mass hysteria cause by their apearance. #2 Their appearance on earth would cause the public to ask what else the government has been hiding and bring all their black operations to light. #3 The aliens have decided on the above that mankind as a whole is not ready and may never be. The aliens have seen our missmanagement of our planet and maybe do want us to spread. They have seen they way that we wage war and fear that our anger and hatred would spread.
The final possibility is that the shadow government has them help prisoner and is performing tests on them to see their strengths and weaknesses.




[Edited on 2-10-2003 by John bull 1]

OK,We're going to have a slight change of plan.

As I have 7 good entries I have asked both OIMD and KPTR if in the that they lost they would like to participate in the new tournament.

Well,the final seems to have instilled a kind of blood lust in them both and they have both agreed.

So the loser of the Debate Final will be in the tournament as Number 1 seed. and the other 7 entries will be graded to produce their seeding.This will mean one extra round.

So we will have.

First round.

A Seed 1 v seed 8

B Seed 2 vseed 7

C Seed 3 v seed 6

D Seed 4 v seed 5

Roound two.

E Winner of A v winner of D

F Winner of B v winner of C

Challenger contest.

E v F

Then the Final against the Champion.


If all entrants are agreeable could they post up here.While keeping which entry was theirs a secret still until the seeding is worked out.

Thanks.

JB1

That's cool, so three rounds... Awesome!!
Well everyone knows my entry is entry *, the best one...
That's about it.
Also, congratulations to OIMD and ktpr on a final well fought
Cheers,
- Tass

[Edited on 30-9-2003 by Tassadar]

Also, could you post a list or participants John?
This way we'd know who we are debating even though noone else does...
For the sake of sportsmanship?
Thank you,
- Tass

Oh well, guess I've got work my way back through the ranks again


I look forward to meeting these entries in the next tourny. Actually, I look at this, now, as a type of exercise that keeps my head from rusting... so, in a way I'm kinda glad I have to start all over with these rookies


Anyways, I hope the next series energizes the board and keeps people interested. I look forward to my first match

I have to tell you I "PITY the fool" (in the words of the immortal "MR. T") that has to contend against EITHER OIMD or KTPR!

Serioulsy, the entrants were all good "showings" but "C" was exceptional in this herd... If ONLY because he/she understands readability "issues" (break the stuff up into easily digested parts!) then so be it....

Readability goes a LONG way toward making it EASIER for your audience to "GET" your message. Jamming everything into ONE paragraph is a faux pas that is UNFORGIVABLE under MOST constitutions... ''

Fortunately the ATS constitution is STILL a work in progress and isn't enforceable!

PEACE...
m...

[Edited on 10-1-2003 by Springer]

Why isn't the D R getting in this? I hope he's not scared...

Originally posted by ktprktpr
Why isn't the D R getting in this? I hope he's not scared...

My honest belief is that, over time, the 'championship belt' will be held by most of the better known members of ATS at one time or another... simply because there exists a set of active posters on ATS who are very close in terms on intellectual ability.. with victory capable of going either way in a debate that has a topic neither participant is very familiar with.

So far as DR goes, he has been regarded as a top ATS debater for a long time, so I don't think you can goad him into action. However... An exhibition between you two might be fun to watch (I beat DR, you beat me, DR beats you...).

Also... For the future, it might be cool to have a 'super' series wherein the members of ATs got to pick the people they wanted to see in a tourny. Instead of single elimination, each participant could do three debates... then those with the best records could face off in team competitions (sort of like how medieval tournaments were done: Individual combat on day one, a melee on day two).

I'm down with that. And yes, boys and girls, I came to play this time. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Beware the god of Mischeif..

I think we should work the bracket slightly different than that, John. Make the highest paired with the lowest in round two, like in hockey. Just re-seed after round one, so that it's feasible that the #1 debates the #7, if they pull an upset, you know what I mean? Peace.

Show me what you mean up here.

I just went for the seeding done in tennis.

I'd be interested to see what you mean.

i'll give you an example.

here's the round one bracket for a sample NHL conference playoff...

1.Colorado
8.Phoenix

2.Dallas
7.Los Angeles

3.Detroit
6.Minnesota

4.St.Louis
5.Edmonton

Now, lets say that Los Angeles, Colorado, St. Louis, and Detroit advance...the round 2 bracket would look like

1.Colorado
7.Los Angeles

3.Detroit
4.St. Louis

Like that. You see what I'm saying, the low plays the high in all rounds, not just round one. IE, if Phoenix had Upset Colorado in round one, then They would play Detroit instead, and St. Louis and Los Angeles would play. You see what I'm gettin at?

Yes,I see.

I'm going to stick with the tennis style seeding because I think it's fairer.

If our 7th seed does beat our 2nd seed then I think they would have earn't the right to enter the new bracket.

Football seedings are based on a seasons football our seedings are based on one qualification question.

It may be that a person seeded on the basis of their qualification answer might be an excellent debator.In that case the tennis style seeding re-evaluates the seeding.

So, when do I find out who I'm debating?

New Rules Confirmed. They look good to me, I`m glad we all get to participate, as I think my entry was the worst.

XAOS

I'm just waiting for Gazrok,FaithDefender,and NinjaoftheNight to confirm they're happy with the rules then I will post up the seeding so everyone will know who they are facing.
I hope to have the four matches up with the topics by tomorrow midday GMT.

Tournament kicks off Sunday evening GMT.
So everyone gets a few days to think about their topics.

I'm looking forward to it.

Seeding is based on grading that judges have done(except OIMD).Remember the judges have no idea which entry is which.

Originally posted by ktprktpr
Why isn't the D R getting in this? I hope he's not scared...

...I can just see DR now...

'I tol' dem motha fu##ers, I ain't neva scurd...'

Lol. BoNeCrUsHeR!

Man, I should get some sleep. Peace.

I wanna get in the Debate mindset. Hurry up youse guys.

Rules seem fine by me....

The new format is fine with me.