Train for any argument with Harvard’s former debate coach | Bo Seo

This is extremely useful for a debate team, but facts and figures don’t matter in an argument because as soon as you tell someone they’re wrong they stop processing what you’re say and start working on what they’ll say next.

“Counter their argument by insulting their mom” -Albert Einstein Edit: haha, I love spreading misinformation. You can also counter any argument by using the term “Nuh uh”

"Always bring a pistol to a debate, you never know when you'd need it. " ~Sun Tzu, Art of War

"If intelligence is the ability to respond to any argument wisdom lies in knowing which arguments to respond to and which parts of an argument to respond to" -Bo Seo

… a most excellent way to get an education! “Thinking is hard. Therefore most people judge.” - C G Jung😊

"In order to be heard, you must first listen." - Bo Seo. What a quote love it!

my main takeaways: RISA Framework: Before challenging, ask 1. Is the disagreement REAl or a misunderstanding? 2. Is it important enough to justify? 3. Is it specific enough to make progress? 4. Are u or the other person aligned in the objectives to participate in the convo. Difficult to find alignment in interests to want to engage int he disagreement. Pride is alignment, but NOT the right kind that leads to productive convos. Can be applied in close community settings, such as with political views wtc. 1. start with a bit of agreement 2. name what you disagree with 3. Y do u want to engage in the disagreement? 4. remind ourselves of agreement made, bring back to parameters - Know what to challenge and what to let go. > Is this disagreement necessary to resolve in order to make progress? > If not, is us challenging it going to make progress on the dispute? can be judicious on what to disagree with. In order to be heard, you need to listen. >in your best interest to understand their argument in their shoes. dont twist its meaning or take it at its worst/fraction of it. Makes them feel they arent listened to. > respond to the STRONGEST version of the other side, build up so its better than its starting point Side switch exersizes: > put yourself in opponents shoes, write top 4 arguments of their side > look at the case through someone elses viewpoint > imagine world u lost and come up with reasonsy u did.

This is the exact thing that we should be learning in schools. Not as optional after school debate clubs, but as a big part of the curriculum. Thank you for this. Really insightful

“Arguments are easy to start & hard to end. If intelligence is the ability to respond to any argument… wisdom lies in knowing which arguments to respond to and which parts to respond to.” Hell yea brother. I need this book.

I am a middle schooler and I think that debate should be implemented into schools because it can help with feeling heard, practicing good arguments, and being able to better control your emotions and admit when you are wrong

I like the way he sees a debate to be brought in a productive direction, not a debate that just destroys the opponent

I felt like one thing that always gave me the upper hand in an argument was to remain calm. Very old and basic term but very useful. When you burst in outrage or in any emotion it shows where you're vulnerable. It's like you insulting someone and the person targeted has little to no emotions, then you feel the need to insult them again so they show a "weak spot". Being calm and collected is almost like a power move, it asserts dominance without over doing it.

Let's all please keep in mind that it's not about winning an argument. It's about debating ideas, looking for the truth, building a bridge of communal understanding and nurturing a culture of constructive discussion rather than violent confrontation. Only then we can advance as a culture. Our history is paved with repeated failures of building bridges, mostly due to concurrence, blinding personal beliefs and interests. I once read: "When two cultures meet, they should bloom together."

If intelligence is the ability to respond to an argument, wisdom lies in the ability to know which arguments to respond to ~ Bob Seo

My brother and I have so much fun disagreeing with eachother. So when we are talking one of us will intentionally disagree. When we do this we get into fun and interesting conversations where we contest both sides of an idea. It’s honestly something I wish I could do with other people in relaxed settings but almost always the struggle to find the alignment for said disagreement is difficult and mostly nonexistent. I encourage everyone around me to debate and challenge other ideas because of the knowledge it brings both sides. When you have different opinions it opens up a whole new world of conversation to one another but it only works if both parties are willing to listen. This video is eye opening because while I was doing these things before I never really thought about it or understood why disagreements would go so wrong for me and other people. Now I get it and I can potentially apply this to my life with others.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🗣️ Public conversations are in crisis due to a lack of good argument skills, leading to unproductive shouting matches. 01:42 🤝 The 'RISA Framework' helps in choosing disagreements wisely by checking if they are real, important, specific, and align with objectives. 04:24 🤝 Applying the RISA Framework can improve family discussions during holidays by setting parameters and aligning objectives. 07:21 🎧 Active listening involves understanding the opposition's argument as they do and responding to the strongest version of their case. 10:25 🤔 The 'side-switch exercises' promote humility, empathy, and open-mindedness, particularly in political and ideological dis

Everyone should get a foundation in philosophy, psychology and debate in their education. Philosophy nurtures the rational, psychology the psyche and debate forges those together as a powerful tool that will be useful in ever aspect of your life. The reason you don't get this in your education is because it would also give you all the tools to critical to politicians, CEO's and religious leaders. It would upset the entire power structure if the average person could poke holes in their arguments, spot it when their emotions are manipulated and verbalize exactly how and why it is happening. That would be very uncomfortable.. for those at the top.

NOTES I TOOK✨✨✨ starting: 1. agree with the other 2. name the main disagreement 3. why+outcome deciding to answer: >is it necessary to resolve to move on >is us challenging lead to progress in your best interest: - see it through their eyes - respond to the strongest version and build up - research well - step in the shoes of sb completely against you - note the 4 best arguments - imagine being taken down and note your weak spots

This is exactly how I have learned to "argue" or even critique other people's work in design school. Name something you like about the art first, your critique + why and loop around in a way! Informative!

Shouts out to Bo for educating people on debate. For a lot of the people in the comments saying "I wish this was taught at schools" Speech and Debate teams exist at the middle school, high school, collegiate, and now even in the post academic world where anyone can participate. Its never too late to join no matter where you are in life and if those resources don't exist fight for them. Many of the first speech and debate programs in high school and college were started by people with 0 experience who had the urge to learn about it and compete in it. If you want it to continue please donate to your local high school debate league or even to the National Urban Debate League.