Debate Jenga
When watching videos of discussions or debates, there are a variety of elements that capture and side-track our attention.
The debate jenga engages multiple modes of involvement and learning (visuals, narratives, discussions).
How someone looks, the pace of their speech, and their body language create impressions that embed themselves in memory. There may also be flawed arguments that warp our understanding by appealing to our emotions or biases. The debaters might employ logical fallacies: inaccurate assumptions or unsubstantiated arguments that may resurface if gone unchecked and unquestioned. Things like generalizations, false dichotomies, appeal to popular belief or appeal to emotions.
It is important to exercise our thinking - like a mental work out - by remaining alert and constantly filtering and dissecting arguments.
How someone looks, the pace of their speech, and their body language create impressions that embed themselves in memory. There may also be flawed arguments that warp our understanding by appealing to our emotions or biases. The debaters might employ logical fallacies: inaccurate assumptions or unsubstantiated arguments that may resurface if gone unchecked and unquestioned. Things like generalizations, false dichotomies, appeal to popular belief or appeal to emotions.
It is important to exercise our thinking - like a mental work out - by remaining alert and constantly filtering and dissecting arguments.
The debate jenga engages multiple modes of involvement and learning (visuals, narratives, discussions).
Firstly it is an alternative to staring at the screen (usually the focal point). Secondly it encourages people to find meaningful ways of discussing arguments (for the sake of the game) and internalizing concepts in their own mental models. The presence of another activity gets passive spectators out of their heads, and gets them talking to one another about the basic rules of good debate.
The physical tower acts as an external representation - or record - of a debater’s use of logical fallacies (such as appealing to emotion, or attacking the character instead of the message). The possibility of the debate pawn falling when the tower crumbles is also a high-point that makes the experience more memorable.
Firstly it is an alternative to staring at the screen (usually the focal point). Secondly it encourages people to find meaningful ways of discussing arguments (for the sake of the game) and internalizing concepts in their own mental models. The presence of another activity gets passive spectators out of their heads, and gets them talking to one another about the basic rules of good debate.
The physical tower acts as an external representation - or record - of a debater’s use of logical fallacies (such as appealing to emotion, or attacking the character instead of the message). The possibility of the debate pawn falling when the tower crumbles is also a high-point that makes the experience more memorable.
