In-person debates are somewhat pointless, because someone can simply start lying their ass off and you won’t be able to do the research in time to call them on it. Even if you know what they’re saying is flat-out wrong, and you call them on it, your opponent can simply accuse you of being the one who has the facts wrong—and an audience that doesn’t already know the truth won’t have any way to tell the difference. The only kind of debates worth having are written debates.
If you’re certain your opponent is lying and that you could easily prove him wrong given access to the right information, pull out a hundred bucks and take a bet. See how long the certitude lasts. If he doesn’t have cash, somebody in the public might.
Maybe have a referee that you show the sources for all your facts to in advance of the debate. Then if at some point during the debate someone says something that wasn’t confirmed with the referee in advance, the referee would interject something like “That’s unconfirmed” before allowing the debate to continue. Edit: It might be best to have a team of referees made up of folks from both sides of the debate and maybe a few unaffiliated folks to help everyone keep in mind their purpose and break ties.
Here’s what I think...
In-person debates are somewhat pointless, because someone can simply start lying their ass off and you won’t be able to do the research in time to call them on it. Even if you know what they’re saying is flat-out wrong, and you call them on it, your opponent can simply accuse you of being the one who has the facts wrong—and an audience that doesn’t already know the truth won’t have any way to tell the difference. The only kind of debates worth having are written debates.
A couple solutions :
Record the debate, and post it on YouTube
If you’re certain your opponent is lying and that you could easily prove him wrong given access to the right information, pull out a hundred bucks and take a bet. See how long the certitude lasts. If he doesn’t have cash, somebody in the public might.
Who could judge the bet? The root problem is that creationists and scientists have no common higher authority to appeal to, not even that of reason.
Take a cue from the legal system and have evidence (in this case, probably citations mostly) be required to follow certain rules of admissibilty.
Maybe have a referee that you show the sources for all your facts to in advance of the debate. Then if at some point during the debate someone says something that wasn’t confirmed with the referee in advance, the referee would interject something like “That’s unconfirmed” before allowing the debate to continue. Edit: It might be best to have a team of referees made up of folks from both sides of the debate and maybe a few unaffiliated folks to help everyone keep in mind their purpose and break ties.