This website purports to be a collaborative data collection project for the upcoming UN climate change conference.  They hope to use debate as one of the methods for collaboratively gathering data and perspectives.

What is most interesting is the lack of attention given to format, or to debate in general on the website.  They claim, “The project is founded on principles of openness, transparency, and
discovery; with no preconceptions about the conclusions that will
emerge from the event.”

I think this is a great perspective, and I am certain debate, in whatever form, can contribute to this project. But I wonder if the organizers of this collective intelligence gathering have considered the recalcitrant aspects of debate – that everything comes under investigation, even the idea of “climate change” itself.

This is one of the underdiscussed areas of the use of debate for information construction or pedagogical purposes – the fact that it encourages participants to think in ways that continuously unravel the sweater when all you wanted was to clip a few loose threads.