posted on Oct, 6 2012 @ 03:30 AM
reply to post by seabag
I agree 100% with the idea of 3 judges on every debate and I also would much rather see a point system, as suggested by a couple of fighters weighing
in (Yes! Pun intended! lol) on this matter.
I am totally a greenhorn in the forum, having just finished my first debate...and having made my opponent wait because of first being ill myself and
then my mom who I take care of...but I have read two debates with the intention of judging...the second one being also waylaid by getting sick but I
can honestly say that I hesitated a day or so and then got sick...if I had been judging with just a point system toward winner or loser, I would not
have felt hesitant or reluctant for that first time judging. My hesitation arose mainly because of not being sure of what to write in my
judgment...reading other debate judgments, I thought, would help me to form my own, but it really didn't help at all.
The truth is, if I am judging a debate, I don't really want to make comments or voice opinion because that seems more like the debating part rather
than the judging part. I can easily decide who I feel won the debate but can't really 'show my work' as far as WHY or HOW I came to that decision.
The apparent reason is that because one person was more persuasive/convincing/effective than the other. Explaining what is behind my decision seems
more like a critique than a judgment of which participant is the winner of the debate....aka 'scoring' the debate.
If that makes sense.
I have not, as of yet, been undecided after reading any debate in this forum. I can see how a tie, except for the rare instance, would be a
less-than-satisfying conclusion to the effort put forth to present one's side of any given argument.
I also think that very possibly comments give away the identity of a judge. Common courtesy combined with a lack of total anonymity might be the
reason for the ties...with a result acquired through a number-based scoring system by 3 unnamed judges, there is freedom to judge without concession
to our friendliness with each other or other social conventions that have the tendency to make us want to tippy-toe. I think everyone would agree that
debates are not the place to tippy-toe and in fact are one environment in which we can truly be liberated from that kind of thing...
I also think that perhaps it might be set up, however informally or otherwise that the mods see fit, in some sort of rotation that isn't really
compulsory but which makes it fair as far as participating and finding judges...for example, saying perhaps that for every debate a fighter
participates in, they are encouraged to participate in the judging of 2, or 3 or whatever, other debates. That is just a suggestion from a greenhorn,
though. Salt is good with greenhorn suggestions, if you dig.