I Heard You the First Time: Debate in Cacophonous Surroundings

摘要

One often finds in debate involving agents strongly committed to their positions, that argument is promoted not through a rational measured exchange of views but rather through stridency and clamour as proponents try to shout down or otherwise suppress their opponents' opinions. While the presence of moderators may go some way to alleviating the effects of such approaches one has the problems of moderators being ignored and the environment being of a nature that makes the appointment of such infeasible. In this article our concern is, in the first instance, to examine the extent to which an environment where argument is pursued through these means can be modelled. Within this model, we briefly review what techniques may be adopted by participants looking to present their own stance with minimal effort and maximal impact.