I’m worried that competitive debating and argumentation could lead to developing some negative habits.
The ability to adopt a scout mindset, listen to and process opposing views, be receptive to criticism, engage in counterfactual thinking effectively, know how to handle thought experiments, employ intuition and other tools characteristic to philosophy judiciously, be able to switch between level of complexity in speech for different audiences (e.g. avoiding technical jargon with non-specialists, using examples that resonate with the audience, etc.) are all skills that can operate well both within and outside an argumentative context.
While being good at arguing may be the most central skill to cultivate, the specifics are going to matter!
Hard agree with the potential negative effects. Debating is essentially learning to be good at motivated reasoning. That can be very good if you choose to apply said motivated reasoning skill to deeply understand all positions on a topic, even those you disagree with. It’s usually bad because most people just use their superior motivated reasoning skills to engage in confirmation bias more effectivley.
I’m worried that competitive debating and argumentation could lead to developing some negative habits.
The ability to adopt a scout mindset, listen to and process opposing views, be receptive to criticism, engage in counterfactual thinking effectively, know how to handle thought experiments, employ intuition and other tools characteristic to philosophy judiciously, be able to switch between level of complexity in speech for different audiences (e.g. avoiding technical jargon with non-specialists, using examples that resonate with the audience, etc.) are all skills that can operate well both within and outside an argumentative context.
While being good at arguing may be the most central skill to cultivate, the specifics are going to matter!
Hard agree with the potential negative effects. Debating is essentially learning to be good at motivated reasoning. That can be very good if you choose to apply said motivated reasoning skill to deeply understand all positions on a topic, even those you disagree with. It’s usually bad because most people just use their superior motivated reasoning skills to engage in confirmation bias more effectivley.