No more class debate

Finally the debate session ends.

Get rid of this mess, at last

Phew, conducting a debate session for these people with zero experience in debate is mentally exhausting

Luckily I have a bunch of talented, smart classmates that are well-trained in presenting :p

This just makes things easier

I keep wondering, how should I modify the format to make it simpler

and how to let them understand the whole flow

not to mention asking them to stand at the podium and present their arguments

Thank God I did a rehearsal, hehe

That's why things go so smooth today

Proud of you all guys :)

I was actually little worried.

Cause it seems like I'm the one pushing all the way

and seeing some group haven't prepare much on the day before

kinda freaks me out

But I just love how they surprise me in many ways

Or did I underestimate them >.< I'm sorry if I did

And I even spot some ready talent for our dying Debate Club! Yay!

And I really like the intellectual discourse that's going on

although its still more on reading script,

quoting research XX,1990 blah blah

but that was informative

Everything we talked about is soft knowledge

but its something we don't touch unless we are forced :p

Then you'll see there is a huge range of research going on everywhere about basically everything

So we talked about innateness of stereotype and prejudice

and second one about gender difference in reasoning abilities

Still can't get why I suggest this in the first place and why they voted these 2 in

But very basic Nature vs. Nurture debate

Our lecturer was curious about the stereotype motion and wonder if it is related to the election

Haha, honest answer is yes.

I'm kinda surprise she saw through it,

I actually searched about Racism(After Najib ask what we want kan)

and found this whole bunch of studies on how racism is pre-wired

We human show fear( know by testing activity in amygdala) when there are other races

I think it is something natural and sort of biological instinct,

you stick with your own group, be it race, gender etc

for protection and support

We do have prejudice, innately, 

and unconsciously as many would regard themselves as color blind in terms of race

But there are this thing called Implicit Bias, which is proven under the Implicit study @ Harvard

Try out the test yourself! :)

Some recommended reading: 

Nature: How our brain view race

Human Brain Made Unconscious decision based on ethnicity

I like how one scholar concluded, 

this finding did not justify nor tell us racism is deeply-rooted that its immovable

but make us clear about the pathway,

and how it could be changed or reversed

and study have shown awareness training with the Implicit Study could reduce the bias

So the point is we must have awareness,

with this awareness we can consciously counter the effect of the innateness

and make a rational, fair and just decision

That's all about neuroscience :P

Just so glad that there is no long pause, stuttering, ran off the stage scene that I dreaded :p 

Sorry my imagination kinda strong

and we have a lively debate as everyone is so actively involved

and one full with laughter XP

But toward the end, 

it makes me think a lot

and such a coincidence, I saw this status post from a friend

When you are open and receptive, you get hundreds of ideas. When you close yourselves to yourselves, you only get your own little idea. We all are just small dots in the ecosystem, not center of the universe. Be open-minded and let go your ego is the winning factor!

I kept thinking did I did too much of the thinking and talking

As if I'm feeding them

and I think this is an act of disrespect

as if others can't think of something

and limit the discussion as well

because I'm so convinced and satisfied by the points that

I only wanted them to deliver the things I thought was brilliant

It could have been a debate with richer matter,

Sad case

Another thing I saw is one haunting question since long ago

What went wrong between the bridge?

The speaker thought they mentioned A&B

thought they explained it well

but for the audience they might just get A,

and they don't even understand about it.

This BREAKDOWN is serious

This is all about the way of delivery, how to make it understandable to people

which I have big difficulties in.

Few years back I might have my arm on waist 

and shout: "I did mention that! If you don't get that please listen carefully, or clear your ear wax"

but isn't debate about delivering message to people, persuade them?

If the audiences get nothing, means you say nothing.

I'm still working on it,

to make A sound like A and interpreted as A.

Huhh, communication is lifelong work man~~~

I'm still working on how to suppress the ego me

and stop my words from popping out before a mindful consideration

but things just get so smooth when I'm high lol

That's when I started to throw crap

But still very glad to see my classmates trying this out.

Hehe, there is much more fun here :p

I'm luring them to come to debate training

Merit awaits!!! Hehe

But no more at class, please!