Ben Shapiro at Oxford Union

[George K]

There are several videos of Shapiro. Here's a sample.

Link to video

You have to go to YouTube to watch

If you go here:

Link to video

...you can find more.

[George K]

If nothing else, go to about 10:20 and watch the woman who asks questions and then the douchebag after her.

It's a good 12 minutes to watch and understand where these people are coming from,.

[Jolly]

Something weird happened...At the 31:16 mark, the video just stopped. Couldn't get it to start playing again until about 32:00.

[Doctor Phibes]

I'm not a fan of Shapiro, but some of those people are imbeciles. The point at which she said the British didn't bomb German civilians in WW2 was hilarious.

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Ben Shapiro at Oxford Union:

I'm not a fan of Shapiro

He's like Mark Levin, albeit a bit less screechy. A bit.

OTOH, I thought he handled himself very well.

[Doctor Phibes]

@George-K said in Ben Shapiro at Oxford Union:

OTOH, I thought he handled himself very well.

Yes, he did.

[Jolly]

@Jolly said in Ben Shapiro at Oxford Union:

Something weird happened...At the 31:16 mark, the video just stopped. Couldn't get it to start playing again until about 32:00.

OK, Sam Spaded this one out, when went to watch the second video. I'm piddlng on the computer at work and am not signed into YT. The second video requires sign in, as it is not age appropriate and will not play at all. I think perhaps the glitch on the first video may be related.

I find this a bit disconcerting. Anybody who would watch the Oxford debates are certainly not children, not young children, anyway. If they are considered children, say 15 or 16, huzzah for any young person willing to watch the arguments to become more educated about these issues.

[Horace]

The most illuminating part of the video, and probably the most relevant to the topic, is that the crowd cheered whenever the two debaters got insulting and puerile. (Insults of course always started by the pro-Palestine side.)

The main fallacy employed in circa 99% of all political discussions, is the uncharitable assumption that the other side is lying. Meanwhile, true things can be stated all day from any given perspective, and one never has to lie. Because the true things from either side are very rarely mutually exclusive. Especially with the imprecision of language, and the potential to reframe words such that they're true. It all goes round and round, with both sides being unable to comprehend how an honest person could occupy the other side. It's all so incredibly stupid, and then, ultimately, violent.

[Jolly]

@Horace said in Ben Shapiro at Oxford Union:

The most illuminating part of the video, and probably the most relevant to the topic, is that the crowd cheered whenever the two debaters got insulting and puerile.

In the comments...

As a British senior academic and trained debator I’m dumbfounded by this debacle.

Isreal-Palestine Conflict aside.

This is supposed to be one of the most prestigious educational institutions.
This man is not a government official. He’s not a politician. He’s simply grown a social media platform and is a political commentator. And he’s asked to stand at the the debate box to listen to sarcasm, rudeness (told to “shut up”), passive aggressive comments, and entertain shamefully poor arguments.

Oxbridge students were synonymous with superior debating skills. The Oxford Union has hosted Albert Einstein, Sir Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and Queen Elizabeth II.

Now we have this - what was achieved?

Students shout, interrupt, cannot control their emotions. One young man walks to stand to where the greatest thinkers in history have stood ….wearing a tracksuit then delivers a sarcastic joke mocking the guest before his point. The Chairman does nothing. Though does asks an accusatory question near the close.

Countless logical fallacies:
Argumentum ad hominem
Appeal to emotion.
Appeal to probability
Base rate fallacy
False dilemma
False equivalence
And simple, terrible phrased questions.

These students have not been taught to think objectively, evaluate evidence(twice it’s said “I suggest you check Google…”) correctly nor debate correctly.

An embarrassment.

[LuFins Dad]

Through the first 6 minutes. Shapiro 1 - Palestinian antagonists 0.

Here’s the story about the Palestinian farmer she brought up and Shapiro was correct, the Israeli was arrested. https://am12-mediaite-com.cdn.ampproject.org/i/s/am12.mediaite.com/med/cnt/uploads/2023/06/imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-bsywevVXEmrt-1200x801.jpg

[Jolly]

Just a comment...If you knew you were coming into try to debate Shapiro, wouldn't you need to have your facts down cold, rather than referring to your phone?

[LuFins Dad]

9:44 the debate about the supposed AI generated baby picture. I tried researching it and can find no legitimate news touching it. There are some sleepy looking Arab sites and Reddit threads that claim it’s AI, but the only article I can find that actually addresses the veracity is an article in the Anti Defamation League site. https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/generative-artificial-intelligence-gai-increasing-fog-war-between-israel-and-hamas

I’ll score this to Shapiro. He definitely nailed the “theologian compassion” guy, too. Shapiro 3-0