The Premise of Ethics Bowl

I love doing Speech and Debate. It’s fun, interesting, varied, and definitely one of the best extracurriculars out there. However, perhaps something needed to be added. Speech and Debate was great and all, but something seemed to be missing. Where were the real world skills, applicable scenarios, and social cooperation that were supposed to characterize Speech and Debate. Then I found that and a lot more in an unexpected place: Ethics Bowl.

I never thought I would find Ethics Bowl interesting. I never thought it would be fun. I was surprised to realize that much of the elements of the ethics bowl were familiar to me. There are many similarities and many more differences, but first I should establish what ethics bowl is. Ethics Bowl is an ethics-based competition where two teams discuss an ethical dilemma in front of a panel of judges. The teams can be made up of 3-5 competitors, and substitutions in between rounds are allowed. 

The time splits are as follows (skip this if you don’t care or you already know because it won’t be the focus of my article):

1. The first team consults for two minutes about a given ethical situation

2. The first team gives a five - six minute speech in which any team member can speak. This speech should give a brief overview of the situation, establish that team’s position, and provide a counter argument and rebuttal.

3. Then the second team has two minutes to confer

4. The second team then presents a three minute speech in which any team member may speak. This speech should provide commentary and feedback on the opponents’ speech. This feedback should be constructive and helpful, in order to add nuance to the viewpoint of the other side.

5. Now the first team has a chance to confer (two minutes) about the commentary given

6. The first team now gives a three minute speech to respond to the commentary and questions given. 

7. Now the judges have 30 seconds to confer

8. The judges can now ask questions and the first team can answer for 10 minutes in an extended Q&A session

9. Now, the two teams switch, and it starts all over again on a separate ethical issue

As a general practice, teams’ positions should be framed around a real ethical ideology, These include but are not limited to: deontology, utilitarianism, common good, do no harm, or social contract. There are numerous theories to choose from, and almost all are acceptable. 

The Benefits of Ethics Bowl-Style “Debating”

1. Skill-wise

Generally, ethics bowl competition rounds will be more constructive than most debate rounds. In addition, teams are not awarded points for proving the other side wrong, as is common practice in debate events. Furthermore, teams are not assigned a position and do not even have to oppose the position of the other team. This, in my opinion, is what is generally missing in the debate space as a whole (I mean specifically debate in this instance). Whereas traditional debate celebrates the ability to debate, ethics bowl represents the ability to cooperate, help others, and facilitate understanding between different points of view. This incentivization of the most important things helps develop thos most important skills.

This is what first interested me in the competition. I’ve long felt that debate (and skills generated in debate) were not as useful in the real world as they should be. While these skills are powerful in competition, they do not always translate directly to collaborative real-world settings. For example, debating for a side you don’t believe in can lead to saying things only for the ballot. In other words, you are arguing to win, not cooperate. This “skill” of winning judges, weighing, extending, pointing out concessions, and having a uniqueness, link, impact are mostly unnecessary in the real world. Skills of cooperation, however, are indispensable in the real world. No one can find work (or friends) if they cannot work together and focus on finding solutions instead of winning. There are no “judges” to decide who wins in real life. Only people trying to work together to solve problems.

As the famous author Dale Carnegie once wrote in his book How to Win Friends & Influence People: “You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it.” By this, he means that even when you “win” an argument, you lose the relationship you have with the person. 

Now back to the Ethics Bowl, I believe that this event bridges that gap. A person is likely to be just as civil, helpful and social in between rounds of this event and inside them. This united personality in competition and life leads to a competition career that builds life skills, not tangential ones. Of course, I’m not insinuating that debate is useless, because I don’t think that at all. Speech and Debate is a wonderful opportunity (and a well funded one too) for students to learn communication abilities and develop critical thinking skills. However, there is always room for improvement. And sometimes there is much room for improvement. In this case, I believe that while debate offers the strong foundations for successful conversation, it neglects the connection to the real world. However, there are already a plethora of existing EIF blogs dedicated to the subject, and so I’ll refrain from repeating what they’ve already written about.

2. Social Gains

Ethics Bowl is not something that everyone should do. I’m not here to tell you to sign up, to make a school team, or to compete in your local competition. Yes, you will have fun if you do it, and yes you will learn something new. But I know most of you may not want to add another thing to your schedule.

But I have competed in it, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how it could apply to people’s lives. And here is my conclusion: Ethics Bowl teaches you the skills to build long-term relationships, not short-term gains. 

In debate, you are awarded trophies for beating others in an argument over a specific topic. This debate will likely take about one hour or less. You will likely never see your opponents again. This teaches a set of skills that is not useful ever in life. In real life, and in a job/school environment in particular, one must learn to build relationships. You cannot build a strong relationship on hostility and competition, only on mutual understanding and a willingness to listen.

Now, I don’t want you to think that I am saying anyone in debate has no ability to communicate or make life-long friendships. In fact, the opposite is true. This points to the idea that how debaters act in a round is completely opposite of how they act in real life. However, the efficiency and effectiveness of this strategy scares me. If you must constantly change between being as contentious as possible and a social friendly person, you will get tired twice as fast as another person. 

However, bridging the gap between these two polar opposites can be as simple as being respectful in debate rounds and in the real world. I invite you to find every opportunity to have safe, constructive conversations with your peers and especially your friends. This can not only foster greater understanding of the other person, but it can also be wonderful to find out your own points of view more in a more nuanced way.

3. Intellectual Stimulation

The purpose of Speech and Debate (according to the NSDA website) is to “empower young people to research, discuss, and deliberate over important and timely issues.” The best way to research a topic is when you have an emphasis on finding the truth, not the easy way out. Ethics Bowl once again solves that. In Debate (and often Speech), competitors are encouraged to find and present the most defensible arguments. This, however, can lead to “stock” arguments which everyone uses. This low hanging fruit becomes the norm, and it becomes nearly impossible to win without conforming to the status quo. In ethics bowl, there is no rock hard prep available to competitors, no access to files, and no internet access. This lack of access allows ethic bowlers to think of arguments on the spot, which are more likely to be authentic and less stock.

The lack of forced sides also helps inspire a search for truth. As competitors are aware, judges are looking for convincing arguments with nuance and grounds in reality. When debaters are forced into a position by a coin flip, they may feel confined and controlled. While there is virtue in rigidly opposing sides, freedom to develop personal opinions matters just as much, if not more. There are no “pairings” in the real world. There are no coin flips, aff and neg, or speaker position. There is only a search for truth. One piece on the subject even says that Ethics Bowl is the opposite of traditional debate in this way. They claim that “Ethics Bowl is the opposite of traditional forms of debate in this country—the ‘win-at-all-costs,’ negative, whatever-it-takes debate that is typical of cable news, congressional debates, election campaigns, and our courtrooms.” These types of “negative” discussions often take place in Speech and Debate tournaments, though also almost exclusively dominate the everyday debates that take place everywhere in the world. However, these are only motivated by one desire: how can I make myself look the best? This leads people to make arguments that are either incorrect or to completely reject other’s points of view. However, an ethics bowl perspective lends itself to these problems. By making concessions without always fearing how we will be perceived, we not only find truth and understanding in the moment, but we also train young (and even old) minds to think differently about how debates should be conducted.

4. Teamwork

As an extemper and public forum debater, I am used to having at least 50% control of what my team says in a round, if not total control. It was a shock to me to participate in a 5 person team, where I did maybe 10-20% of the planning and talking. This, possibly, is one of the cons. However, this could also be considered a benefit. Usually, what I say has a lot of matter but may not matter as much. When you are forced to limit your words, they become a lot easier to improve, refine, and clarify to the judge. Really, this isn’t anything unique to ethics bowl at all, it’s only a simple division of labor theory. Adam Smith, a champion of this idea, asserts in his timeless book The Wealth of Nations that “The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgement with which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.” For example, on our ethics bowl team, one team member presented a counter argument, and I was in charge of dismantling it. This, being my sole focus when we were the speaking team, became my entire focus (allowing me to become pretty good at it).

Second, having many people on a team provides a chance to practice for future careers. Collaboration is part of nearly every job out there, especially the high paying ones. People who learn to play well on teams have a higher chance of becoming financially successful. In fact, the Pew Research Center finds that jobs emphasizing social skills have grown at an exponential rate, meaning that working well with coworkers is more important than ever. Planning what to say, dividing up tasks, and trusting each other to do their part are all important factors when it comes to teams who fail and teams that win. 

Third, having multiple perspectives on a team opens up room for multiple interpretations of the topic, and usually lets the truth be more commonly found. Often, in an extemp round, I will get halfway through my prep before realizing that I’ve probably chosen the side that is hardest to defend. However, by then it is too late to turn back and I am forced to give a meh and often underwhelming speech. Having a multitude of perspectives often solves this problem. 

5. Real Life Application of Topics

In Congress, you debate legislation. In PF/Policy, you debate policies/governmental actions more broadly. In LD, you debate the morality of certain governmental policies. In Ethics Bowl (as I’m sure you guessed) you debate ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas are, in my opinion, more applicable to one’s life than other debate topics. For example, one of the topics from our regional docket was about whether Amish parents should be allowed to pull their children from school before high school. Though seemingly unrelated to me (obviously not Amish or a parent), I still found that it helped me realize how I thought children’s opinions should be developed in their early years. I’ve competed in extemp for two years, and I’ve almost never developed a new opinion about something by giving a speech on it. I’ve learned, yes. I’ve formed tentative opinions about policies and social issues, sure. However, these opinions haven’t really affected my life so far, and apart from voting I don’t think they ever will. On the other hand, in Ethics Bowl, the conclusions made can directly influence your life. For example, on the Regional case set there are topics concerning AI in the classroom, college admission, juvenile justice and even Homeowners Associations boards. 

In addition, debate events such as Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas release a topic every two months, and debaters spend the whole two months only researching those topics. On the other hand, in Ethics Bowl, there is a wide variety of topics. All have two (or more) nuanced, researched, and popular opinions. All have room for interpretation on both sides. In this way, Ethics Bowl is somewhat related to Congressional Debate because competitors are forced to research many topics and to examine multiple perspectives for each tournament. In Extemp, there are often questions provided that do not have two available sides to argue. There is an excellent article by William Zhan on the EIF blog page concerning the subject. 

So, not only can Ethics Bowl topics be more easily applied to one’s life, but they can also provide more possibilities for viewpoints on both sides. 

Concluding Thoughts

The principles of Ethics Bowl are (in my opinion) what is missing from Speech and Debate. Focusing on finding truth, building understanding, and working with team members are all valuable skills that could benefit anyone. I highly recommend learning more about Ethics Bowl and how to get involved (because I don’t think I explained it very well). Speech and Debate will always be a big part of my life, and I don’t think anything could replace it. But just because we have a good thing doesn’t mean we can stop looking for more.