Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Debate Outline
I. Constructive:
A. Introduction
i. Good day.
ii. Resolution: Increased reliance on technology undermines quality
of life in America.
iii. Thesis: Increased reliance on technology improves the quality of
life because new innovations improve American lifestyle while
connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
iv. Values:
1. Progress
2. Technology
3. Family Time
B. Terms defined
i. Agreed to the terms with opposition.
C. Background Information
i. Brief History of Relevant Technologies
1. 3500 BC to 2900 BC The Phoenicians develop an alphabet.
2. 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.
3. 1983 First cellular phone network started in the United
States.
4. 1994 The World Wide Web is born.
D. Contentions listed
i. First contention: Technology has major health benefits because as
treatments get more advanced and cures are discovered, many lives
can be saved.
ii. Second contention: Progress in technology has bettered the
standard of living around the country with the help of appliances,
computers, and other helpful gadgets.
iii. Third contention: The reliance on technology helps humans stay in
contact and communicate with each other. The means of
communication has become much easier with the development of
the computer, Internet, email, and cell phone.
E. First Contention
i. Technology has major health benefits.
ii. [According to an article by the president a futurist company
Marvin Cetron] Medical knowledge is doubling every eight years
(Cetron).
iii. This means that whatever we know now, by 2014 we will know
twice as much. That is an extremely rapid rate of increase of
knowledge and it is only made possible by our expansive increase
of medical technologies.
iv. [According to an article by the president a futurist company
Marvin Cetron] In the next 10 years, we expect to see more and
better bionic limbs, hearts, and other organs; drugs that prevent
Jeremy Keeshin
with people around the world. And this is not only for the youth; it
is for adults and businesses as well.
iv. [Journalist Elizabeth Moore says] The iPod isn't just changing the
way students take notes--it's turning college into a realm of
perpetual connectivity (Moore).
v. The new music gadget called the iPod has not been helping
learning. Technology has been used in a positive manner to help
educate our country.
vi. The Internet, as well as the telephone and cell phone is what keep
people together in the current age. Distance is not an issue when
communication is available through a phone or computer that is
easily at hand.
H. Conclusion
i. Remember that increased reliance on technology improves the
quality of life because new innovations improve American lifestyle
while connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
1. Technology has major health benefits.
2. Technology improves the standard of living.
3. Technology keeps people connected around the country.
II. Cross-Examination
A. Contention 1: Health Benefits
i. Do you like being healthy?
ii. Do you think technological advances in medicine have helped us
be healthier as Americans?
iii. Do you think we would we would discover cures and learn about
disease in the same rate we do without the help of technology?
B. Contention 2: Standard of Living
i. Do you spend time on the computer and watching TV every day?
ii. Is technology an intrinsic part of your life?
iii. Has technology made your life easier?
C. Contention 3: Communication
i. Do you stay in contact with people through email and the Internet
that you otherwise would not be able to talk to?
ii. Do you have easier access to information because of the Internet?
iii. Do TV and the Internet help update you of news?
D. Opposing Contention 1: Family Time
i. Do you spend a considerable amount of time on the computer?
ii. Are you able to communicate with your family through the Internet
and email?
iii. Do you still spend a good amount of time with your family?
iv. POINT- it is still possible to use the technology of the day and still
stay connected with your family and have family time.
E. Opposing Contention 2: Misinformation
i. Would you rather have no information whatsoever than bad
information sprinkled in amongst good information?
Jeremy Keeshin
ii. Are there a lot of good information sources as well as bad ones,
available on the Internet and through other media?
iii. Do you have the ability to tell a useful site from a bad site on the
Internet?
iv. POINT- There is a lot of information on the Internet, and the
individual has the power to extract the useful information if the
technology is harnessed properly.
F. Opposing Contention 3: Privacy
i. Do you like terrorists?
ii. Do you think government investigations with advanced technology
can help to stop these attacks?
iii. Is the risk of your website history being examined outweighed by
the amount of lives that can be saved from the use of technology?
iv. POINT- For the sacrifice of a little bit of our online privacy, the
government has the ability to obstruct terrorist attacks and help us
be safer.
III. Rebuttal
A. Review
i. Thesis: Increased reliance on technology improves the quality of
life because new innovations improve American lifestyle while
connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
ii. Contentions
1. First contention: Technology has major health benefits
because as treatments get more advanced and cures are
discovered, many lives can be saved.
2. Second contention: Progress in technology has bettered the
standard of living around the country with the help of
appliances, computers, and other helpful gadgets.
3. Third contention: The reliance on technology helps
humans stay in contact and communicate with each other.
The means of communication has become much easier with
the development of the computer, Internet, email, and cell
phone.
B. Defend Contentions
i. First contention: Technology has major health benefits because as
treatments get more advanced and cures are discovered, many lives
can be saved.
1. Opponent Attack: Technology does more harm than good to
our health.
2. The Human Genome Project has already begun to yield
promising new treatments for genetic disease. Already, this
research has yielded possible cures for hemophilia, cystic
fibrosis, familial hypercholesterolemia, a variety of
cancers, and AIDS (Cetron).
Jeremy Keeshin
ii. Second contention: People who rely on technology too much are
susceptible to misinformation.
1. It's clear what the web's most important contribution to a
well-informed public will be. Web-based schools will
enormously expand our educational options, and make it
much easier than it is today to circumvent educationally
corrupt local schools. Many such web projects are already
underway and doing fine (Gelernter).
2. Misinformation is overridden by the amount of positive
information and educational options available by
technology.
3. New innovations such as the Internet make us more
informed and help us more than hurt us.
iii. Third Contention: Reliance on technology gives us less privacy.
1. [GPS technology] Rosum, which counts among its
investors In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the Central
Intelligence Agency, promises a vast improvement in
location-tracking services and gadgets. That could help
everyone from the military to dispatchers tracking delivery
trucks. (Takahashi).
2. Our safety is more important than our privacy.
3. New technological gadgets have helped us keep track of
people and things more easily.
D. Conclusion
i. Thesis restated: Increased reliance on technology improves the
quality of life because new innovations improve American lifestyle
while connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
ii. Review main clash points
1. Technology is helping us vs. hurting us
2. Technology is advancing us vs. slowing us
3. Technology is connecting us vs. tearing us apart
iii. Technology is here to stay. To return to the candle and cave is
unthinkable (Wenk Jr.).