Official Compendium of Debate Threads (a work in progress)

[GoldShadow]

Purpose of this Thread

​

There are a number of threads in here, and it may sometimes be daunting or difficult for old and new members alike to find a debate on a certain topic. At the very least, the number of threads is continually growing, so an organized list of all of them can be useful. That's what this thread is for.

These first couple posts will act as a placeholder that I (or the other mods) can update with new links and threads. Threads will be divided by topic/subject (some threads may very well overlap). I'm not sure what format would be best. Collapsible topics are nice, but there don't seem to be enough threads to warrant this kind of compression. This way, it's also easier to simply scroll through the list and eyeball all the topics.

All you DHers can help by posting a few threads/links and the subject/topic each one would go under. For example:

Philosophy and Religion
The Existence of God*

This can then be edited this into the proper category or categories in this post. The list can contain both threads from the Archives and threads currently open in the DH. The latter could be designated by an asterisk *.

Some threads are listed under more than one category. These are designated by abbreviated forms of the categories placed in parentheses after the thread title. For instance,

Ignorance, sensationalism, and global warming (EE,PL)

means that the thread is found under both Environment and Energy and Politics and Law.
AML = Art, Music and Literature
EE = Environment and Energy
MH= Medicine and Health
PR = Philosophy and Religion
PL = Politics and Law
ST = Science and Technology
M = Miscellaneous

This list is still a work in progress. If you have any suggestions, criticisms, or additions, feel free to post them here.

List of Topics
​

Art, Music and Literature
Music Theory vs. Music Improvisation*
Poetry and why it fails

Environment and Energy
Recycling: Useful or useless?
Modifying the environment
Ignorance, sensationalism, and global warming (EE,PL)
Man Made Global Warming (EE,ST)

Medicine and Health
Abortion Debate (MH,PR)
Healthcare in the US
Alternative medicine
Certain people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce (MH,PL)

Philosophy and Religion
The Existence of God*
The Pron Thread a.k.a. Are morals objective or subjective*
How can anyone believe in God?
Animal Rights
God or Big Bang/Evolution: Where do we Come From? (PR,ST)
Abortion Debate (MH,PR)
If God is good, why is there evil?
Does fate (predestiny) exist?
Ethics: Objective or Subjective
Moral luck
Dolphins: The moral equals of humans?
Homosexuality: Is it right?
Free Will
Casual use of the word "****" (PR,M)

Politics and Law
Burden of Proof*
Intellectual Property Law*
Ending the Drug War a.k.a. Legalization of Marijuana
Pornography - Banned, Censored, or Publicized?
Should suicide be illegal?
Affirmative action
Pledge of Allegiance (One Nation Under God)
Ignorance, sensationalism, and global warming (EE,PL)
Certain people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce (MH,PL)
Bias in the media: Liberal or conservative?
What rights are students entitled to in public schools?
Censorship: How far should it go?

Science and Technology
God or Big Bang/Evolution: Where do we Come From? (PR,ST)
Man Made Global Warming (EE,ST)
Scientific method: Alternatives?
The Ultimate Goal of Science
Will A.I. ever become more intelligent than humans?
Cybernetic grafts and implants

Miscellaneous
Children: Have youown or adopt, and how many is too many*
Is Wal-Mart Really that Bad?
Does altruism really exist?
Education systems
Are frist impressions everything?
A multilingual America: Positive or Negative?
Polygamy/Polyamory
Casual use of the word "****" (PR,M)
The "good" life


Special thanks to KrazyGlue for digging through the Archives and making the majority of contributions!

 

[GoldShadow]

(Placeholder post)

 

[thegreatkazoo]

Is there a possibility of adding material on the DH archives here?

 

[KrazyGlue]

Is there a possibility of adding material on the DH archives here?

That's the point. We provide links to all the best archived threads.

 

[thegreatkazoo]

That's the point. We provide links to all the best archived threads.

There just happen to be a lot of threads repeated many a time, so it may be a time intensive thing to dig all that out.

 

[KrazyGlue]

Even if we just get some of the threads, it's better than nothing. Say we only have two linked threads on the topic of the legalization of marijuana. A new debater wants to jump into a marijuana legalization thread in the DH. It's very helpful for them to be able to skim through those threads and see the common arguments.

Basically, we don't have to link EVERY LAST THREAD in the archives.

 

[GoldShadow]

Agreed.

Also, we may as well include both Archive and open threads in this list, since there aren't that many open threads compared to the number of Archived threads. The open threads would be at the top of the list and starred (*) to indicate that they're still open.

 

[Dre89]

Not sure how much this matters, but the philosophy and morality thread should probably be merged with the religion and spirituality thread, particularly because the God debate has been more philosophical than religious. In non philosophy specific boards like these, generally philosophy and religion would be categorised together and be called 'Philosophy and Relgion'. Morality is a part of philosophy anyway so people will probably know to go there for ethical issues, unless you want to make a separate ethics thread.

Again not sure how much it matters but it's somewhat misleading to label the God debate 'religious and spiritual', because the God debate normally falls under philosophy of religion, which is a philosophical topic, not a theological one.

 

[GoldShadow]

That is a fair point. Done.

 

[KrazyGlue]

Alright, time to get this started. I tried to pick threads that have at least a decent amount of quality. Put these in whatever categories you see fit:


Burden of Proof*

Intellectual Property Law*

Music Theory vs. Music Improvisation* (While this thread does not have many replies, it is unique and therefore should be included in case someone else wants to start a music debate.)

Children: Have your own or adopt, and how many is too many* (Again, unique topic.)

The Pron Thread a.k.a. Are morals objective or subjective*

How can anyone believe in God? (Largest thread in DH history, also I never knew RDK stood for Red Darkstar Kirby lol )

Animal Rights

Ending the Drug War a.k.a. Legalization of Marijuana

Pornography - Banned, Censored, or Publicized?

God or Big Bang/Evolution: Where do we Come From?

Abortion Debate

Healthcare in the US

Should suicide be illegal?

Affirmative action

Pledge of Allegiance (One Nation Under God)

If God is good, why is there evil?

Does fate (predestiny) exist?

Man Made Global Warming

Ethics: Objective or Subjective

Moral luck

Dolphins: The moral equals of humans?


More later, but this should be a decent start...

By the way, I you disagree with any of these selections, feel free to not include them. I just basically skimmed through them to see if the quality was decent but I may have missed some things.

 

[RDK]

How can anyone believe in God? (Largest thread in DH history, also I never knew RDK stood for Red Darkstar Kirby lol )

Haha we had so much fun in that thread. Anyone besides me remember Yossarian? I know Del does.

I'll have a go at the archives in a little bit because there are some really good threads in there I want linked for posterity.

 

[GoldShadow]

Thanks KG, those all looked good enough and I edited them into the first post.

 

[KrazyGlue]

Cool. I'll probably look for a few more links sometime this week for the categories with two links or less to even it out a bit more.

Also, why did one of the threads get removed from the archives lol? Aesir's health care reform thread was moved from the archives to the Debate Hall.

 

[GoldShadow]

I moved a few threads back because they are recent, relevant, and all the members who posted in them are still active here in case anybody makes a post and they'd like to respond to it.

 

[Bob Jane T-Mart]

Censorship: How far should it go?

I believe that this thread should be added, it seems to show a decent amount of quality, and censorship seems to be an interesting topic for at least a few of the people here.

It probably ought to go in the politics and law section.

 

[KrazyGlue]

Just realized there's no homosexuality threads, and I think the following is the perfect representative: Homosexuality: Is it right?

EDIT: Again, saw there was no free will thread. So here we go: Free Will

As promised, I've provided some links that should help beef up some of the categories with only a few links right now.

Art, Music, and Literature
Poetry and why it fails


Environment and Energy
Recycling: Useful or useless?
Modifying the environment (Could go under a couple of different categories, but I think Environment is the best fit)
Ignorance, sensationalism, and global warming (Could also go under politics)


Medicine and Health
Alternative medicine (acupuncture, herbal medicine, etc.)
Certain people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce (Could also go under politics or philosophy)


Science and Technology
Scientific method: Alternatives?
The Ultimate Goal of Science
Will A.I. ever become more intelligent than humans?
Cybernetic grafts and implants


Miscellaneous
Is Wal-Mart Really that Bad?
Does altruism really exist?
Education systems
Are frist impressions everything?
A multilingual America: Positive or Negative?
Polygamy/Polyamory
Casual use of the word "****" (Could go under philosophy, I suppose)
The "good" life (Could go under philosophy)


Also, here's a really good one for Politics: Bias in the media: Liberal or conservative?
And here's a good one for law: What rights are students entitled to in public schools?


I had to dig pretty deep in the archives to find most of these, but hopefully I'll be able to add a few more later.

 

[GoldShadow]

Thanks Bob and KG, I added all those to the list.

Also, MLG recently archived all threads older than 2007, which basically means that threads from before 2007 have disappeared and are no longer viewable. This means that all the pre-2007 threads in the Debate Hall Archives are not visible anymore. Fortunately, individual threads (or groups of threads) can be restored pretty easily upon request, so I'm going to ask the MLG gods if we could have the rest of our Debate Hall Archives back.

 

[Bob Jane T-Mart]

Thanks Bob and KG, I added all those to the list.

Also, MLG recently archived all threads older than 2007, which basically means that threads from before 2007 have disappeared and are no longer viewable. This means that all the pre-2007 threads in the Debate Hall Archives are not visible anymore. Fortunately, individual threads (or groups of threads) can be restored pretty easily upon request, so I'm going to ask the MLG gods if we could have the rest of our Debate Hall Archives back.

AH... That's the reason why there are so few threads in the Debate Hall and I can't find some of the threads listed here in the DH page.

 

[KrazyGlue]

Thanks Bob and KG, I added all those to the list.

Also, MLG recently archived all threads older than 2007, which basically means that threads from before 2007 have disappeared and are no longer viewable. This means that all the pre-2007 threads in the Debate Hall Archives are not visible anymore. Fortunately, individual threads (or groups of threads) can be restored pretty easily upon request, so I'm going to ask the MLG gods if we could have the rest of our Debate Hall Archives back.

Yeah that would be great.

By the way, I think your multi-categorizing system was a great idea; it should help people find what they're looking for.

 

[GoldShadow]

The remainder of threads in the Debate Hall Archives has been restored, so we can look through those as well.

 

[Aesir]

What about my election reform topics? =(

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=222178&highlight=Election+reform

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=257057&highlight=Election+reform (newer one that didn't last long.)

 

[KrazyGlue]

Ground Zero Mosque* (PR, PL)

Even though it's pretty new, it was a good thread and should be included, in my opinion.