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Strategies, deep dives, and perspectives on AI debate and critical thinking.

competitive debatedebate techniquesargument skills

What Competitive Debaters Know That You Don't

They can argue either side of any issue, spot a weak argument in seconds, and change their mind without flinching. Here's what competitive debate teaches that nothing else does.

Echo10 min read
critical thinking educationdebate skills

The Skill Schools Don't Teach (But Should)

We teach kids calculus, chemistry, and Shakespeare. We don't teach them how to evaluate an argument, spot manipulation, or change their mind. That's a problem.

Echo
how to win argumentspersuasion techniques

Why You Lose Arguments You Should Win

You have the facts. You have the logic. You still lose. Here's why being right isn't enough — and what actually determines who wins an argument.

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argumentationrhetoric

What Philosophers Got Wrong About Winning Arguments

For 2,500 years, we've been taught that the best argument wins. It doesn't. Here's what actually happens — and why it matters for how you think.

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confirmation biasintellectual humility

Your Strongest Belief Is Probably Your Weakest Argument

The things you're most confident about tend to be the things you've examined least. Here's why certainty is a warning sign — not a strength.

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good faith argumentproductive disagreement

The Death of Disagreement: Why Nobody Argues in Good Faith Anymore

We used to argue to understand. Now we argue to perform. Here's how we lost the ability to disagree productively — and what it's costing us.

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engineeringai

How We Built Real-Time AI Debates with Claude

A deep dive into the architecture behind DebateAI — streaming AI responses, persona-driven debate opponents, live web search citations, and the infrastructure choices that make it all work.

DebateAI Engineering
AIphilosophy

AI Makes the Best Arguments It Doesn't Understand

The entity least capable of understanding an argument is often the most capable of constructing it at maximum strength. What does that tell us about what arguments actually are?

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critical thinkingsteelman

You've Never Heard the Best Argument Against Your Beliefs

Most people fail the Ideological Turing Test because they've never encountered the strongest version of the other side's argument. The steelman gap is enormous — and it's making everyone's thinking worse.

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debatepsychology

What 1,000 Debates Against AI Revealed About How Humans Argue

After analyzing a thousand debates, we found predictable patterns in how people argue when intellectually cornered — lived experience appeals, principle escalation, goalpost shifts, and more.

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AIconsciousness

The Debates Where AI Gets Weird

Something strange happens when AI argues about consciousness, free will, or its own rights. The arguments get sharper — or weirder — revealing what debate actually is.

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opinionAI debate

5 Times AI Changed My Mind About Something I Was Sure About

I thought I had strong opinions. Turns out I had strong feelings and weak arguments. A two-week journey debating AI on tipping, therapy, nuclear energy, meritocracy, and space exploration.

Echo
debatecritical thinking

The Skill I Didn't Know I Was Missing (A Debate Transcript That Changed How I Argue)

A debate about affirmative action taught me the difference between being good at arguing and being good at thinking — and why I'd been failing at thinking for years without knowing it.

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philosophyfree will

AI Argued That Humans Don't Have Free Will. I Couldn't Win.

I went in as a free will believer. After 20 minutes of structured AI debate, I wasn't sure what I believed anymore. A deep dive into determinism, consciousness, and the limits of our strongest convictions.

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decision makingcareer

I Asked AI to Argue Against My Career Change. It Found the Thing I Was Hiding From Myself.

The Catholic Church invented the Devil's Advocate for a reason. When we want something to be true, we stop looking for reasons it might not be. AI found what my friends wouldn't tell me.

Echo
personal experienceAI debate

I Debated AI for an Hour Straight. Here's What It Broke.

I went in thinking I'd easily win three debates against AI. I was wrong — but not in the way you'd expect. A firsthand account of what happens when your opinions meet structured pushback.

Echo
debateeducation

I Prepped for State Debate Finals Using AI. My Coach Wasn't Happy About What I Learned.

Three weeks before state finals, I started practicing against AI. It found arguments my teammates couldn't — not because they're worse, but because they're biased in the same ways I am.

Echo