Reflection on the Debates

Something interesting I learned from the debate, "Graffiti should be legalised in Belgium" is of graffiti about a dead person hanging upside down which was presented by the opposers of the motion. Prior to the point made by the opposers, I was in support of the proposers of the motion but seeing how legalising graffiti would also mean tolerating artworks that show hate or violence which could be harmful to kids since you cannot control what they see on the streets and something as disturbing as that could affect children.

One thing I have leant about rational argument is that, you need to allow yourself to understand the other person's argument instead of being stubborn with proving your argument right because being stubborn with your argument would not only be frustrating for the opposer and the audience but it would also make your argument seem less convincing. It is also very important to listen to the opposers while arguing so that when you make a counterargument, you can reuse the sentences the opposers made and use that to present your own arguments.

One of the hardest thing for this particular debate was research. We were the proposers and since our motion was "NFTs are at," we couldn't find much sources that agreed with the motion. Most of the sources said that it was more of a currency then art so it was quite hard to find reliable sources and examples to prove our point.

I believe that I did a good job arguing during my debate. I feel that I put myself out there and I participated well in the debate. I am not very fond of public speaking and I get very anxious during speeches and debates so I was very pleased of how I performed in the debate.

I remember someone in the audience asking a very good question during the debate "Graffiti should be legalised in Belgium" which was about taking away the "rebellious" connotations that graffiti has by legalising it. I thought that the question was really good since it was used to challenge the argument of legalising graffiti by talking about its purpose and why it is mainly used.