What ever happened to CONSTRUCTIVE debates?

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Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Grvtykllrthe human mind marvels at mystery, it needs to find answers. Agreed...but again, why? Why not?

Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Grvtykllrthe human mind marvels at mystery, it needs to find answers. Agreed...but again, why? Why not? Because then we wouldn't be human.

Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Grvtykllrthe human mind marvels at mystery, it needs to find answers. Agreed...but again, why? Why not? Because then we wouldn't be human. You just answered your own question.

Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Grvtykllrthe human mind marvels at mystery, it needs to find answers. Agreed...but again, why? Why not? Because then we wouldn't be human. You just answered your own question. Not quite. Try again...

I'm writing a research paper on the existence of god. My position: There is no god. It's hard, because it has to be a persuasive essay. My peers will be semi-grading it on whether it's convincing or not. My teacher may not be biased, but the majority of the students are christian. It could be very hard to make the paper convincing when I'm bringing their core beliefs that are so rooted into them, into question. Like someone else here said, they would react emotionally before intellectually. My essay could make all the sense in the world, but I still fear they're going to bring my grade down.

Yeah, I think you should choose a different topic, honestly. If there's any Fundamentalists in the room they might not even read it and give you a bad grade. Plus, the possible flood of angry messages from people who disagree with you...could be bad.

Yeah, that's one huge can of worms you're planning to open. I think you should really rethink about your essay topic.

I really thought about changing my topic (which I got from a list of topics our teacher offered), but even if I wanted to it's too late now. I've been working on it now for 1 1/2 months, already having turned in 8 pages of notes, an outline, a rough draft, and my final draft and presentation is in a couple weeks. My teacher would never let me change this late. Maybe a month ago, but it's too late now.

Oh. Well then, good luck, I really hope nobody acts too harshly to your essay

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There is no god. It's hard, because it has to be a persuasive essay.

There are many many many arguments that have been made. Like a debate, you don't need to believe, you just have to present.

Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Grvtykllrthe human mind marvels at mystery, it needs to find answers. Agreed...but again, why? Why not? Because then we wouldn't be human. You just answered your own question. Not quite. Try again... That is exactly the answer. The human mind needs to find answers because the person is just that: human. Nothing more, nothing less.

Originally Posted By: Radeckl

Most won't react with an open mind, that's for sure.

That's true of most anyone these days...Christian or athiest. It's possible for an agnostic, though.

Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Cider Originally Posted By: thor Originally Posted By: Grvtykllrthe human mind marvels at mystery, it needs to find answers. Agreed...but again, why? Why not? Because then we wouldn't be human. You just answered your own question. Not quite. Try again... That is exactly the answer. The human mind needs to find answers because the person is just that: human. Nothing more, nothing less. Not quite. To directly answer the question (rather than avoid having to answer it), you'd have to first define what it means to be human, first. To say humans are curious is fine...you've yet to explain why.

Originally Posted By: thor

... Might wanna cut down on the quote pyramid, my browser is crying out in pain :fearful:

Thats a really awkward topic to do because the reactions totally depend on the beliefs of your audience. You won't be liked for it, I can assure you. Not that people will be out for your blood or anything tho.My advice to you is not to say the word Atheism and Agnosticism, nor to identify yourself as either. Your topic obviously shows what your beliefs are but these a trigger words, some people will hear them instantly think that they know everything about you. Just like how some people unfairly judge someone because they declare themselves as Christian or Muslim.For more on this kinda stuff, check out this talk by Sam Harris. Good luck with your paper, I hope it goes as well as you hope.

Originally Posted By: thorNot quite. To directly answer the question (rather than avoid having to answer it), you'd have to first define what it means to be human, first. To say humans are curious is fine...you've yet to explain why.To be human is to be a member of the Homo Sapien Sapien genus, a species that has evolved for billions of years to arrive at its current state (not that it has reached any sort of destined or final form), and it continues to evolve.It has many characteristics that are not unique to humans, such as curiosity which is found in many other species, but what is unique to humans is the developed intellect that allows humans to think conceptually and theoretically. These combined traits expand the natural ability of these creatures, allowing them to evolve socially and technologically beyond any other known species on Earth.

Originally Posted By: bobaliciousThats a really awkward topic to do because the reactions totally depend on the beliefs of your audience. You won't be liked for it, I can assure you. Not that people will be out for your blood or anything tho.My advice to you is not to say the word Atheism and Agnosticism, nor to identify yourself as either. Your topic obviously shows what your beliefs are but these a trigger words, some people will hear them instantly think that they know everything about you. Just like how some people unfairly judge someone because they declare themselves as Christian or Muslim.For more on this kinda stuff, check out this talk by Sam Harris. Good luck with your paper, I hope it goes as well as you hope. thanks for the advice