Learning English

  1.      THR the use of online dating apps (e.g. Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, etc.) Proposition: Tinder and all dating apps are driven by financial incentives. The more users, the more lucrative it is for them. Therefore, they are not interested in finding a relationship for you, as that means -2 users for them (one’s partner, as well). Instead, what they are actually interested in is to make these apps addictive so that users increase their time spent behind a screen swiping left and right between images. In reality, these apps are designed in a user-friendly way, making it tempting for users to spend their hours online. This is a waste of time for people looking for real romantic relationships. On dating apps, there is a limited number of user accounts to choose from, as these apps run on algorithms. This means that the algorithm will only show profiles based on what it deems your preference. Admittedly, swiping left or right is similar to the real-life experien...

Motion:  THBT media companies exploit LGBTQ+ struggles for profit. Proposition: Even though LGBTQ+ media companies pretend to address the root cause of the problem, which is social perception in today’s society, selling rainbow merch is bound to be exploitative towards these people. Admittedly, selling rainbow tote bags, watching related Netflix movies for the 6 th time, may seem an easy solution to raise awareness of the subject, but this might offer a superficial understanding of the issue. This doesn’t necessarily promote high-quality discourse between people. In fact, these companies reach higher visibility while they misrepresent that community, entrenching prejudices. In addition to this, they knowingly distort the reality surrounding these vulnerable people. This is tantamount to exploitation and rainbow capitalism! By and large, social media algorithms reward engaging content, which is why popular content can easily get caught up. Content creators seek to reach higher visi...

Motion: THR the rise of pop-psychology Proposition: When people turn to pop-psychology content, they tend to establish diagnoses about themselves based on scientifically groundless claims. This can be mainly put down to the superficial nature of, for example, pop-psychology books that offer surface-level understanding of their subjects. TikTok videos about OCD or anxiety are no better. This leads to a distorted understanding of psychology. Psychologically speaking, people are prone to hold to their pre-established beliefs about themselves and their environment. They can inadvertently cling to irrelevant beliefs related to specific cases, which don’t lead to overall improvement in their mental health. Thus, they cannot make informed decisions on how to move forward from one point to another. Pop-psychology content doesn’t offer them scientifically plausible explanations for certain psychological phenomena or behaviour, and thus, they overrely on information. They don’t necessarily ta...

Motion: THR the increased popularity of sex work based social media (e.g., OnlyFans) Kiara Lord (pornstar) with her husband Proposition: Social media rewards engaging content. Sexually explicit content is very likely to generate a lot of views, comments, shares, subscriptions, etc. Media like these are the ones that get caught up and reach higher visibility online. On these sex media platforms, content creators will eventually realize that more sexualized content will lead to higher engagement. This creates competition for customers. As there are growing expectations towards content creators, it will encourage them to make their videos more extreme so as to continue their business. Content creators will post more frequently to interact with their fans and reach a wider audience. This may eventually blur the line between their private and public life. They can easily become dependent on the ones they get their income from. Content like this will normalize extremist sexual behaviour a...

Motion : THBT media representation of performative male competitions is an effective tool to tackle gender stereotypes of males Proposition: The primary objective of performative male competitions is to expose gender stereotypes in a satirical way. For example, contestants who decide to actively take part usually wear clothes or bring accessories with themselves that are simply absurd: drinking matcha tea despite its awful taste, reading multiple feminist novels upside down simultaneously (e.g., The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, or Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf), wearing soft-male clothing, listening to feminist music (e.g., The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift, Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter). What these performative activities all share is that some males deliberately use them as a means to impress their environment (typically women), sometimes in a hypocritical way. Whereas, in reality, their actual belief systems might not reflect the idealised persona they want to show to other people...

Motion : THBT video games promoting aggressive behaviour should be banned for children under 16 by the government. Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/10/video-games-violent-study-finds Proposition: It is the government that can ensure the safety of children by passing policies through the legislative board. The government is accountable to the people they receive their mandate from and thus is subject to public oversight by watchdogs, ombudsmen, etc. They can check and make sure that universal standards are enforced. Thus, it is in the interest of the government to pass laws and make its policy transparent for everybody. By changing macroeconomic legal circumstances, these video game companies are forced by the government to accept and implement these measures. The government, as a legitimised entity, has the legal tools to maintain these standards in the long run: age-verification, fine these companies, and regulate video game distribution. Individually, pa...