I suggest you have a look at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikibate
I particularily think you should read the Format subheading, to which I
contributed the following (which I think is similar to your idea):
- A general idea of what the debate is about would head the page,
along with necessary background info. At the end of this header, an
assertion will be made and this is what the debate is about.
- The Background of the debate need only be a sentance or two
long, anything longer and the debate header itself will be contested.
- Two sided debates would be split into two columns.
- The left column would have the original assertion that starts
off the debate, along with a few seed assertions on each side.
- If you had something to add to one side or the other, you
would click a button to add an assertion(for lack of better
word; this could
instead be a peice of evidence, past history, an analogy to help
explain the
argument, etc).
- If an argument is in responce to another, instead of clicking
add an assertion, you would click on the argument that it is in
responce to
and have the options to
-
- Support the argument
- Give a counter argument
- This new argument would be then lined up with the one it
is respopnding to so that the debate can be easily viewed and
so each side
can easily see both sides of every shred of evidence.
- If you wanted to contest the validity of someone elses
assertion you would click on contest and add your argument in
repeal to the
other.
- This in turn would turn the contested argument into its
own debate that can have its own sub assertions.
- Throughout the process (through a method yet unkown to me,
maybe voting?) every assertion would have a score that decided
how much it
actually supported one side or the other, if it adequatly countered any
other assertions, etc.
I also suggest checking out OpenCyc (
http://www.opencyc.org). It is a
knowledge based AI with all kinds of assertions about real world things.
This might be usable as a backend when forming arguments. You could make
assertions to the AI when adding to the debate, the AI could then use them
to check the validity of other assertions made in the current or even other
debates. I definately thinking rating system should be added so that
specific arguments can carry more weight over others.
/Nathan Spaeth
--
If you have a penny and I have a penny, and we exchange pennies, we both
have one penny but if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange
ideas, then, we will both have two ideas.