Debate reveals value of listening to others' views

We got on the topic of debate not because of the controversy surrounding the president's speech to schoolchildren earlier this week, although it's relevant, but because I took debate in high school.

My daughter had asked me to tell her which classes I chose simply because they sounded interesting back when I was in junior high and high school.

She's in seventh grade this year and for the first time has some say about the subjects she studies. But choosing an elective poses a dilemma: so many different directions she could choose, all of them interesting and each one sure to open a different door in the future. How do you decide between Spanish and art and chorus, among others?

As we talked about the pros and cons of the various classes, it occurred to me that what I loved most about taking debate was that a debate tournament was not just a place where I could stand up and argue my point of view in a forum where people had to listen, although that was fun. The lasting value was actually in the fact that it forced me to listen to those who saw things differently or even adamantly opposed my view. That was the key to crafting an effective counterpoint.

And though my job as a debater was to defend my assigned position on a topic, there were a lot of times when I thought, "He's right about that," or "I never thought of that," or "I did not know that."

It was a learning process that showed me how to do research and helped me refine both my own beliefs and my arguments in support of those beliefs. It gave me a lifelong love of well-reasoned discussion and, yes, contention.

A good debate has also sometimes led me to the conclusion that I didn't really have it right, that I should alter my position a bit or at least explore other ideas. My "truths" have shifted somewhat as age and experience chime in.

But welcoming other views is not something that seems to come naturally these days. Maybe it never did, and I just came late to the task of noticing it.

So many of us are out of our comfort zone if we are even just forced to listen to those who hold different ideas about subjects like politics or religion. And it's not enough to just refuse to listen. It's pretty common to dismiss entirely or show open disrespect for those with an opposing viewpoint.