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I’ll second that…
Further to Dave's last post I've also been thinking aout the idea that debating is not just informative for the audience, but also a useful persuasive skill.If you're argumentative and passionate like me, you will often find yourself in heated debates with family, friends and people you live with which are often very constructive. For example, in my household recent debates have resulted in the toilet seat being put down more regularly, the addition of a fruitbowl to the kitchen, and the interesting decision to frequent (and then rapidly leave) a local Wetherspoons on Saturday night. If I had just whinged about the above issues, or given an excessively long rant, I probably would have been ignored, or even got on my housemates nerves. But through hearing their side of the argument ('Why should I?') and countering it ('erm it's polite...and err small children wont notice the seat is up and fall down the loo... health and safety!') I eventually persuaded them they were wrong. Therefore as Dave discovered in his meeting, and I discovered through my indignation at the lack of bathroom etiquette, debating is a useful way of attempting to reslove issues in your favour. I now enjoy sharing a bathroom, eat more fruit, and Wetherspoons (breifly) enjoyed my patronage.
There is also a point to these slightly mundane musings on my arguments with my flatmates - if you want to persuade someone, engage them and counter thier arguments. We're planning and event soon (more details to follow) and we want large pressure groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty etc. to get on board. We'll let them have an arena in which to engage with a devil's advocate debater provided by us. This way they can counter any opposition they may face publicly, and persuade people theirs is the right argument. Two opposing voices can be more persuasive than one...