Round 1International Relations
Preliminary rounds
Round 2Science and Technology
THW ban social media companies from independently deplatforming politicians
Round 2Science and Technology
This house would ban social media companies from independently deplatrforming politicians
Round 3Health and Medicine
TH prefers environmental movements heavily prioritizing a local agenda over a global one (e.g., focusing on local pollution rather than climate change)
Round 4Sports
TH opposes the glorification of professional e-sports players
Round 5Economy and Work
TH opposes the general approach of companies to grow by massively sacrificing short-term profitability with the hope of gaining a large portion of the market* *e.g. the original business model of companies such as Uber or Amazon
Round 5Economy and Work
This house opposes the general approach of companies to grow by massively sacrificing short-term profitability with the hope of gaining a large portion of the market*
Info slide
*e.g. the original business model of companies such as Uber or Amazon
Round 6Education
THBT it is in the interest of the Catholic church to officially recognize Folk Saints
Info slide
Folk Saints are dead people recognized by the general population as saints who were not officially acknowledged as saints by the Catholic church. Unlike regular saints, they lived lives that the church considers sinful. They are popular in many regions, especially in Latin America. Examples include Sarita Colonia that answers the prayers of sex workers & LGBT people; and Juan Soldado that answers the prayers of people who commit low-level crimes out of financial desperation.
Round 7International Relations
THBT pursuing strong expansionist policies* in the Arctic region is in the Russian interest *Including but not limited to: building artificial islands in order to claim additional territory, trying to significantly limit foreign presence, stationing warships and troops
Round 7International Relations
This house believes that pursuing strong expansionist policies* in the Arctic region is in the Russian interest
Info slide
*Including but not limited to: building artificial islands in order to claim additional territory trying to significantly limit foreign presence stationing warships and troops
Round 8Education
TH opposes the academisation* of social justice movements *The increasingly significant presence of academics and academic terminology, processes and structures in many parts of the world
Round 9Crime and Justice
THBT states should classify organized crime syndicates as terrorist groups* *classification as a terrorist group would legally allow law enforcement to pursue tactics such as targeted extra-judicial killings, reducing barriers to law enforcement gathering evidence, using military forces, criminalizing membership, etc
Break rounds
Partial double-octofinalsSociety and Culture
TH supports developing states falsifying their history in order to create a unified national identity
OctofinalsScience and Technology
TH supports the rise of language-generating AI
Info slide
For the purpose of this debate, 'language-generating AI' is AI that can generate fluent streams of text after processing billions of words from sources such as books, articles and websites. Language-generating AI could conceivably have the potential to write press releases, stories, debate speeches, guitar tabs, scientific hypotheses, technical manuals, code, and more. In limited contexts, the latest versions of the advanced language generating technology were found to be indistinguishable from human writing, however the technology as a whole is still error-prone. Language-generating AI already has commercial & research applications by large organizations, and the technology is expected to rapidly develop in versatility & scale in the near future.
QuarterfinalsHealth and Medicine
TH opposes the Biden Administration plan to finance large scale governmental projects through multi-trillion dollar fiscal stimulus
SemifinalsSociety and Culture
TH prefers to live an average anonymous life in South Korea over being a K-Pop star
Grand FinalHealth and Medicine
TH supports the creation of an international court with a mandate to prosecute leaders for health crimes
Info slide
For the purposes of this debate 'health crimes' are massive violations of the international health codes. For example, the unwillingness to comply with the WHO's regulations on dealing with pandemics, a significant violation of norms on the prescription of antibiotics, breaching the experimentation codes of ethics.
ESL break rounds
For speakers of English as a second language.
ESL QuarterfinalsSociety and Culture
TH would teach children to have a logical approach to life, even at the expense of reducing their emotional bandwidth (e.g. trying to react in less emotional ways, prioritising logic over emotions when approaching problem-solving, etc.)
ESL SemifinalsCrime and Justice
THBT police commissioners should be directly elected by their local community
ESL FinalPolitics and Government
THBT governments would be justified in heavily pursuing Longtermism
Info slide
For the purposes of this debate, supporters of Longtermism believe that significantly more beings will be alive during the future, and that we should assign moral value to the unborn. Thus, they conclude that when evaluating our actions today, the largest consideration is how they affect the future. Potential examples of Longtermist policies can include encouraging people to dedicate their lives to reducing long-run existential risks, allocating a substantial portion of the budget to try and improve the welfare of future generations, or trying to expand humanity to other planets. Under a Longtermist view such policies are ethical even if they come at the very strong expense of more immediate and certain goals like poverty reduction, providing healthcare or increasing the happiness of the living.
EFL break rounds
For speakers of English as a foreign language.
EFL SemifinalsEthics and Philosophy
TH prefers a world in which the Resident Evil machine exists
Info slide
Resident Evil is a VR machine. It leads its user through a set of scenarios aimed at testing whether the user would diverge from universal moral norms. These norms could include not killing, not stealing, not betraying others, or similar. While connected, the simulated scenarios feel completely real to the user. All adults are tested on Resident Evil and their results are publicly available.
EFL FinalEducation
THBT international discussion forums should not self-censor* in an attempt to increase inclusivity to people from countries with stringent freedom-of-speech rules. *Examples of self-cenorship are: AI conferences avoiding discussions on the implications of the use of a certain technology by oppressive regimes; competitions censoring topics; moderators removing politically sensitive content from discussion boards
EFL FinalPolitics and Government
This house believes that international discussion forums should not self-censor* in an attempt to increase inclusivity to people from countries with stringent freedom-of-speech rules.
Info slide
*Examples of self-cenorship are: AI conferences avoiding discussions on the implications of the use of a certain technology by oppressive regimes; competitions censoring topics; moderators removing politically sensitive content from discussion boards
Masters
Masters FinalScience and Technology
This house loves online debating and supports all competitive debating being held exclusively online indefinitely regardless of external factors (e.g pandemic)
About WUDC
The World Universities Debating Championship, often called Worlds, is the largest debate tournament in the world. Hundreds of university teams debate in British Parliamentary style, with 15 minutes of prep for each motion.
Motions from the tournament's tab site. Prep notes are written by the Debatery Editing Team to help you start thinking; they are not the only way to run either side.