This is an article I wrote some time back, but by popular demand, I’m publishing it again.

Debate will change your life, if you like it or not. There is no way out of this, mainly because a lot of people just get addicted to it after they try it. And once you are in, you can’t get out. And you do not really want to be called a quitter, do you?

So here are a couple of things that I have seen, that have changed in my life.

1. Yeah right, I don’t buy it

This is the most common answer, that I now give to people. Ok, maybe I’m not that annoying, but I really think more about what people tell me. If you are a politician or just my friend, I will challenge you on what you say. Sometimes just for fun, just to see the argument, or to see if you have an argument behind your claims, and sometimes because I really do not agree with you.

2. My first point is, my second point is…

Well I use structure. Even if I do not always use it in my debate, I use it more and more when I speak freely with my friends. It helps me to get my information to them and it helps me to get back to what I spoke in the past, because they tend to try to change what I said. Or they just hear it differently.

3. I’m more annoyed by things that people say

When you start thinking about what people tell you, you see that there is a lot of BS, that they try to sell you. It sucks sometimes, because you would just like to go and have an easy day, but you just have to think about what people tell you. Yes, Ignorance would be a bliss sometimes, but if you are a debater, you just can’t do that.

4. I know people all around the world

In all of the years, that I debate, I have probably met hundreds of people from all around the world, that I would never meet, if I would not debate. All the tournaments just push you to speak to people from different backgrounds, and this makes your social life much more fun. Yes, it can destroy the organization of the friends that you have on Facebook (if you are a debater, you MUST join) (and I don’t try to brag about the number of friends that I have on FB), but it really is great, that you have a place to crash and a couple of interesting people that you can go for a coffee with in almost all countries that you visit.

There are probably even more things that I have just because of debate. This web page, a proportion of work that I do for money is connected to debate, most or all of the travel that I do an others.

More about debate and where to debate at the website below.