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Robert's Rules of Order and Jason's Suggestions

 
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Jason Tandro
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PostJason Tandro Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:46 am   Post subject: Robert's Rules of Order and Jason's Suggestions Reply with quote

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Just thought I'd post this as a general idea of debate and how to remain civil. I trimmed this down a lot to a few basics that you will find useful.

Robert's Rules of Order - Summary Version
For Fair and Orderly Meetings & Conventions

Provides common rules and procedures for deliberation and debate in order to place the whole membership on the same footing and speaking the same language. The conduct of ALL business is controlled by the general will of the whole membership - the right of the deliberate majority to decide. Complementary is the right of at least a strong minority to require the majority to be deliberate - to act according to its considered judgment AFTER a full and fair "working through" of the issues involved. Robert's Rules provides for constructive and democratic meetings, to help, not hinder, the business of the assembly. Under no circumstances should "undue strictness" be allowed to intimidate members or limit full participation.

The Rules

Point of Privilege: Pertains to noise, personal comfort, etc. - may interrupt only if necessary!
Basically on a forum board, you can't interrupt, so be sure to say what needs to be said in your posts!

Point of Information: Generally applies to information desired from the speaker: "I should like to ask the (speaker) a question."
We all know how to use @whoever.

Point of Order: Infraction of the rules, or improper decorum in speaking. Must be raised immediately after the error is made
You see somebody flaming or getting off topic, call it out. Say, "yo, you're getting off topic. Or, yo, you're flaming."

Reconsider: Can be made only by one on the prevailing side who has changed position or view.
Basically if in an extended debate you recall something that was brought up earlier, give a reference point by Quoting it.


Jason's Suggestions

I hate to stick my nose in but I have a couple of things I want to point out.

1. Disagree is not the same as disapprove.
Just because a person disagree's with your point of view does not mean that they fail to see the merit of your opinion.

2. Agree is not the same as approve.
In contrast, because a person may agree with a statement on a theoretical level does not mean they agree on a practical level and vice versa.

i.e. I think the Death Penalty in practice is a great idea but I agree with the theory that states that killing a murderer makes us no better.


3. Avoid religious debate! It's not worth it!
Trust me. Even mighty cool characters get ornery when God is brought up.

4. Good debaters provide sources.
Don't spew facts unless you can cough up where they came from.

5. Sweeping generalizations = bad idea.
Never say something like "all athiests want us to take God out of everything." No matter how right you think it sounds, there is always an exception and it is never okay to blanket judge a group of people.

6. To assume makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me".
Do not connect a statement somebody has made to an ideal structure they have not expressed no matter how similar they seem.

i.e. Poster says: "I'm Pro-Life."
Don't say: "You must be Christian."

OR

Poster says: "I'm Pro-Life."
Don't say: "So you want to ban abortion rights!"


7. There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
When quoting a statistic, be sure to quote its source and have a good idea of the test subjects.

For instance. If you recieve a study that says 90% of Americans believe that marijuana should be legalized, make sure the source is reliable. If the poll comes from http://www.legalizationofmarijuana.com then it's probably not as reliable as a more even mix.

Remember, the key to a fair study of an ideal is entropy. A random mix of people is (so far) the best way to get an idea of a large group of people's views. And be sure to remember that these polls take the views of a few hundred or few thousand people and extend them to incorporate the believes of 260 million Americans or 6 billion people, etc.

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