This Week: Adversarial Collaboration Entries

This week I’ll be presenting entries from the adversarial collaboration contest. Remember, an adversarial collaboration is where two people with opposite views on a controversial issue work together to present a unified summary of the evidence and its implications. In theory it’s a good way to make sure you hear the strongest arguments and counterarguments for both sides – like hearing a debate between experts, except all the debate and rhetoric and disagreement have already been done by the time you start reading, so you’re just left with the end result. A few months ago, I asked readers to write adversarial collaborations and submit them to me. After the inevitable flakeouts and disappearances, I got four entries: 1. Does the current US education system adequately serve advanced students? (by Michael Pershan and TracingWoodgrains) 2. Is Islam compatible with liberal democracy? (by John Buridan and Christian Flanery) 3. Should childhood vaccination be mandatory? (by Mark Davis and Mark Webb) 4. Should children who identify as transgender start transitioning? (by a_reader and flame7926) I’m going to post one of these per day. Over the weekend, I’ll post a link to a poll where readers can vote for their favorite. I’m also going to vote for my favorite, and my vote will be worth 5% of the total number of reader votes. Whoever gets the most votes wins. The prize is $1000; thanks to everyone who donates to the Patreon for making this possible. Please put any comments about the contest itself here, not on the individual entries.