Impact Turns

Impact Turns

What are Impact Turns?

Impact turns essentially say that whatever impact your opponent has run is good for some reason. The best way to explain them is through an example. Say that your opponent says “Voting affirmative prevents global nuclear war which is good because global nuclear war causes extinction” an impact turn would say that global nuclear war is good or that extinction is good. That might sound pretty crazy, but there are many arguments for this, including Spark and Wipeout (check out our Wipeout guide!).

What are some examples?

Debaters have come up with a lot of cool impact turns! Here are some common ones:

1. Spark: This turn says that nuclear war won’t lead to the extinction of humanity, but will instead lead to the death of a broad majority of humanity – maybe because some islands will be left unscathed. This is good, because otherwise, the world is on track to infinite suffering for some reason or because extinction would happen without nuclear war. For example, one link is that artificial intelligence will take over the world if we continue at our current pace of technological innovation, and will upload our minds onto a digital space, causing infinite pain and suffering. However, a nuclear war would destroy data centers and technology companies, meaning that AI would not be able to cause such harm. This relies on a purely utilitarian framework (which focuses on pain and suffering only). That’s an argument that debaters have to win in order to access this turn. Another link would be climate change – nuclear war prevents climate change because there aren’t a lot of humans to pollute, preventing suffering from its horrible effects.

2. Human/Animal Wipeout: these turns’ thesis is that extinction is okay. Human Wipeout is similar to Spark, except that it says that everybody can and should die – that’s still good because it prevents something like AI from taking over. Animal Wipeout says that animals suffer on a day-to-day basis because they’re always being hunted, or are starving, wounded, etc. Killing them would mean less net suffering.

3. Pandemics are good. Another argument is that pandemics are good because they help foster international cooperation, reducing the chance of wars/conflicts happening in the future.

4. Climate change is good. One example of a turn saying this is that climate change will free up sea ice in the Arctic, allowing for better trade which helps the economy. It will also prevent an uprising in Russia because its economy will benefit from better trade routes, reducing discontent.

5. Democracy is bad. There are several turns under this: for example, one link notes that autocracies are better at solving climate change, preventing existential crises. Another says that democracies are ineffective at solving the issue of pandemics.

These are only a few examples, but hopefully you can see what impact turns are like! Think about any impact that is common, and then think: “Can I find evidence that says these impacts could have positive benefits?”

How can you respond to them?

Responding to impact turns requires both preparation and quick thinking. First, there are some impact turns that you simply need responses to. For example, take Spark. In that case, you would have to cut cards and do some research in order to make a formidable block file against such claims.

However, one can still respond to all of them with common sense and reasonability. Critique your opponents’ arguments calmly, without fear. A lot of impact turns are blippy and are of low quality. For example, their impact turn might not make sense or isn’t probable. Their evidence might not be of good quality, or you can point out to the judge that global nuclear war is still a horrible event, and even if they say the future could be worse, that is no justification to murder billions.

The last example connects with the final way you can respond: you can say that your impact still outweighs. For example, maybe autocracies are better at solving pandemics, but you can say that they’re bad at dealing with public health in general and have a low quality of life, meaning democracies are in general more healthy. Or, that while pandemics might increase international cooperation, they cause so much death that it outweighs any marginal strengthening of relations.

How can you run them?

Running impact turns is simple. First, identify your opponent’s impact. Second, explain why it is actually good. Once you have made your point, you can use this as a piece of offense to win! You can even collapse on this impact turn like it is your OWN advantage or DA and win off of that. One can choose from some of the common impact turns that I have listed above for inspiration, but making your own turns is best – that helps you actually understand what you’re talking about.

Conclusion

Impact turns are the next level of debate, allowing you to use your opponent’s arguments to your advantage. They’re super useful and allow debaters to explore links, probability and magnitude on a deeper level, encouraging students to ponder the true implications of any and all actions.