What would a better debate look like? Below is a speculative list of ways to structure a debate so that it finds and explains more truth.
You’ve noticed why debates suck for truth-seeking, but we seem to use them anyway. So I’m suspicious that the main purpose of debates isn’t actually truth-seeking (<-> Robin Hanson’s “X is not about Y”), but rather something else, like status contents.
In which case it’s all well and good to propose conversation schemas which are better for truth-seeking, but I’d rather call them by some new term, rather than “debates”.
You’ve noticed why debates suck for truth-seeking, but we seem to use them anyway. So I’m suspicious that the main purpose of debates isn’t actually truth-seeking (<-> Robin Hanson’s “X is not about Y”), but rather something else, like status contents.
In which case it’s all well and good to propose conversation schemas which are better for truth-seeking, but I’d rather call them by some new term, rather than “debates”.