I’ve been trying to be thoughtful about why ask for debate rubs me so terribly. Cause my DM’s are LITTERED with (mostly men of color) asking me to debate ideas I’ve articulated and my mentions will often have (mostly white men) asking me to debate a notion.

Discovery and creating depth in ideas is so incredibly pleasurable to me. Like it brings me real joy to understand something or discard an idea, examining why I first had it, and understanding something even better.

On here, some of my most frequent discovery partners are @operaqueenie @polotek @_danilo @tiffani @6Gems @natthedem. There are many other people who I discover with as a reader of their work on here and other places. But learning requires an investment in dignity.

I think you can make a personal choice to learn without dignity but mutual growth learning and discovery requires each human to walk away with their dignity. These folks, I truly love and feel confident that we don’t lose that love in the learning process cause we are invested.

And debate is about vanquishing folks, not discovery. It is a paradigm so firmly in a white male European tradition. Even if there are things to learn, you are so busy protecting a flank, you don’t learn.

Internet culture has carried with it a myth that debate creates learning outcomes. And I just do not believe that to be true. It creates social outcomes for an audience.

I also think lots of folks #OnHere mistake disagreeing with a notion and disliking it and being peeved it gains traction through another person. I’ve been trying to notice when that’s what is causing me ire so I can consciously choose whether or not I actually think it’s harmful.

Anyhow, many of you message on the debate thing and I never respond but wanted to explain that in hopes of creating community about it. It’s how I manage my timeline. My body and my timeline are an autocratic regime. lol. They are my choices and those choices matter to me.

I said this in @polotek’s mentions but it reminds me how folks will think something is a settled truth because “the law” makes it so. And then they rest on “the law” for it being right or wrong. Debate aims to create that in social circumstance. If I “win”, I can rest in that.

No need to introspect my beliefs or things I’ve been taught. I rhetorically won, so that must mean I’m right in perpetuity. No need to have clarity of belief or articulated thoughts. I was the rhetorical winner, now shut-up. Ugh, such uninspected trash.