Last changed on
Fri March 10, 2023 at 1:51 PM PST
Tech judge
Put me on the email chain pls: tbhatnagar@thecollegepreparatoryschool.org and collegeprepdocs@gmail.com
Quick summary,
Impact weighing is good, link weighing is better
Defense is sticky.
Theory and prog args: I think paraphrasing is good, disclosure is bad, etc, but I will evaluate all shells fairly whether or not they fit with my personal beliefs.
K's are fine, I'm not super experienced with it, but know what you are doing, and please have solvency
If you say Among Us or make a Jojo Reference in any speech I will give you 30 speaks(real)
If you want a long version, look below(totally not stolen from William Pirone)
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If you have any questions about my paradigm, please feel free to ask me before the round! My paradigm has recently become egregiously long so just skim through the underlined text if you want the TL;DR.
General:
Tech >>> Truth. You can read any type of argument you want in front of me, as long as it contains warrants. I’ve read everything from politics DAs, tricks, round reports theory, riders, and consult Japan to “warming opens the Northwest Passage which prevents Hormuz miscalc”—do what you’re comfortable with.
Also,go as fast as you want as long as you're clear. I won’t flow strictly off a doc but will take one in case I miss something/want to check for new arguments/implications. Please don’t confuse words per minute with arguments per minute – clear spreading is orders of magnitude easier to flow than a slightly less speedy blip-storm of arguments.
~ ~ ~ ~ Substance ~ ~ ~ ~
This is by far the most fun to judge. Below are some of my preferences/rules when it comes to tech substance debate, listed from the debate norms most specific to me to the least.
Part I - General Substance:
If parts of your argument are uncontested,you do not have to extend warrants for conceded internal linksin summary and final focus. Definitely extend uniqueness, links, and impacts though.
I like impact turns. A lot. Read them.
You also don't have to extend your opponent's link if you're going for impact turns, but you can if you want to.
Stolen from Nathaniel Yoon’s paradigm:I will disregard and penalize "no warrant/context" responses on their own. Pair this with any positive content (your own reasoning, weighing, example, connection to another point, etc), and you're fine, just don't point out the lack of something and move on.
I really value word efficiency– do this well, and you will be rewarded.
"Who what when where why" is not a responseand if your opponents point it out they get auto 30s.
Part II - Evidence:
Smart analytics are great—but please add empirics/warrants to them. Do not dump blippy analytics, ever.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseread taglines if you are going fast. I beg of you. In case, rebuttal, everything. No, “thus” and “specifically” don’t count.
Also, please don’t put analytical warrants in tags unless your evidence backs it up. If you pull up with something along the lines of “because a revoked Article 9 would cause a Chinese state collapse and the re-emergence of the bubonic plague, Shale-13 of Brookings concludes: revising the constitution would be unwise,” I will laugh but also be very sad.
Please label email chains adequately. Ex. “TOC R1 – College Prep HP (Aff 1st) vs. LC Anderson BC (Neg 2nd)”
Whether or not the tournament is onlineI will require an email chain for every round, evidence exchange is faster and more efficient. If you are spreading or reading any progressive argument you must send a doc before you begin; otherwise, sending a doc will not be required. Don’t send Google Docs and then delete them after the round, send either a word doc or paste the text into the body of the email.
Part III - Weighing
Weighing = great. Do it.
You still need to win sufficient offense on your weighed argument though—please don’t try to kick out of terminal defense through things like try-or-die weighing, I’m more than happy just voting on one team’s argument having the higher risk than the other team’s argument, especially if both terminalize to extinction.
—Weighing §1—
Impact weighing is good, link weighing is best.
Don't use "probability weighing" as a chance to read new defense. Probability = strength of link in my view, if you win an argument and warrant it then it is probable. General reasons why your argument is a better link, i.e. actor analysis and historical precedent are fantastic, just don’t use this to insert 27 new responses.
Clarity/contextualization/strength of link are not weighing mechanisms – just explain why your argument is more important than your opponents’ assuming that both sides have won their offense.
—Weighing §2—
In almost all circumstances, link weighing is way more important than impact weighing. Don’t just say extinction outweighs and move on—do comparative analysis on why your link is better(larger, faster, more probable, etc).
On a similar note, make sure to resolve clashing link-ins/prereqs—otherwise, I will be very confused and probably have to intervene. This also means that 1FF can read new link weighing mechanisms to resolve clashing prerequisite arguments, as long as they weren’t conceded in first summary.
Part IV - Defense:
Frontline in second rebuttal—everything you want to go for needs to be in this speech. 4 minutes is 4 minutes, read whatever offense you want in both constructives/rebuttals.
Defense isn't sticky. That said, I am very lenient towards blippy defense extensions in first summary if second rebuttal doesn't frontline something at all, just make sure it's there.
Pleasemake frontlining substantive. What I mean by that is actually reading warrants/evidence when frontlining instead of saying “no internal link/warrant/context” and arguments along those lines. Technical responses are fine when paired with substantive responses, but don't read 2 minutes of "1.) no warrant 2.) no impact 3.) no context 4.) the evidence is miscut 5.) we postdate…"
~ ~ ~ ~ Progressive ~ ~ ~ ~
All arguments in this section are fair game, I’ve read basically everything you can think of at some point.
Theory:
Theory is ok, I read it a lot my junior year. We usually read disclosure/paraphrase/round reports, but I'm good with anything as long as it's warranted. I also won’t be biased when judging theory, so feel free to respond in any way you wish—meta-theory, interp flaws, impact turns, etc, are all fine with me.
I prefer techy substance rounds thoughso speaks might take a slight dip if you do this in prelims.
—Theory §1—
Yes, I think paraphrasing is bad and disclosure is good.(Tanishq here: This is objectively wrong). No, I will not hack for either of these shells.
If you've never run theory before, and feel inclined to do so, I’m happy to give comments and help as much as I can.
Unless I am evaluating the theory debate on reasonability you must read a counter interp... if you do not all of your responses are inherently defensive because your opponents are the only team providing me with a 'good' model of debate.
Theory should be read immediately after the violation. Eg. if you’re speaking first disclosure must be in your constructive for me to evaluate it. However, I am willing to vote off of paraphrasing theory read after rebuttal if your interpretation is that people shouldn't paraphrase in rebuttal. You MUST extend your own shell in rebuttal if it was read in 1st constructive; you must frontline your opponent's shell in the speech after it was read (unless there is a theoretical justification for not doing this).
Substance crowd-out is most definitely an impact, andreasonability can be very persuasive– just read this off of your CI or as a turn on their interpretation. Please still read a counterinterp.
—Theory §2—
I default to spirit > text,CI > R,No RVIs,Yes OCIs*,DTA.
If there are multiple shells introduced, make sure todo weighing between them.
If you read disclosure theory, you must have good disclosure norms—I will probably check.
I will never vote on an out-of-round violation other than disclosure/round reports and the like.
Don’t read blippy IVI sand then blow up on them — make it into a shell format.
Theory unaccessible is not a fantastic argument—there are tons of resources out there and if you need more help/advice feel free to email me. It is just like responding to anything else.
Theory cards, in most cases, are overrated and are often just written by former debaters and will be evaluated on the same level as any other standard/argument. This is different from topicality interpretations and impact weighing/cards against Ks.
*OCIs good is the one thing in my paradigm that you cannot alter with warrants. If you win that your shell is better under a model of competing interpretations, or win turns to your opponents’ interp, you win.
K:
I will evaluate kritiks but no promises I'm good at doing so. I'm most familiar with security/cap/Baudrillard. For anything else please slow down and warrant things out.
No paraphrased Ks—this is non-negotiable.
If you read the mythical Bayesianism kritik, I will give you 30 speaks, especially if you can point to specific links from their case.
If you are reading substance + pre-fiat framing (or a topical link to a kritik in any way)you must still win your topical links to access the pre-fiat layer. I am never going to vote for a “we started the discourse” link or arguments about how your opponents cannot link in.
Rejection alts/ROTBs are sus, read an actual one.
Also, theory almost always uplayers the K.You should be reading off of cut cards and open-source disclosing when reading these arguments.
Perms are OP if you use them effectively. I like when people shotgun them.
CPs:
I will begrudgingly evaluate a plan/counterplan debate. This obviously differs based on the resolution (“on balance” phrasing is weird), but for fiated topics i.e., “Japan should revise Article 9 of its constitution,” they’re probably fair game.
Also, totally open to theory against these– just make the arguments.
FW:
Read whatever you want here, I won't be biased one way or another. Extinction reps, Kant,anything goes.
Util is most likely truetil, but I can be convinced otherwise.
Tricks:
If you must, just make sure the other team is cool with them first. Theory against these is smart too.
Make tricks fun, arguments like a prioris or “eval after the 1ac” are meh butparadoxes, skep, etc are great.
Head to the presumption sectionsince it’ll probably be necessary for these rounds.
~ ~ ~ ~ Extra ~ ~ ~ ~
Presumption:
Absent warrants otherwise,I default to the first speaking team. Independent of presumption, I understand that going first in tech rounds puts you at a significant disadvantage, so I will defend 1FF with my life.
Make sure you read actual presumption warrants.I won't evaluate anything in FF, so make sure to make these warrants in summary, or else I will just default to whoever spoke first.
Preferences:
LARP - 1
Theory/T - 2
Kritik - 3
Tricks - 4
Phil - 4
Non-T Kritik - 5
Performance - 5
Postrounding:
Postround as hard as you want, I think it's educational.
Speaks:
I usually give pretty good speaks, and assign them based on clarity and in-round strategy, with bonus points forword efficiency and humor. In general, I’m also a speedy person and like to do things quickly, so the sooner the round ends and the less prep you steal, the higher your speaks will be!
If you want a boost:
+0.2 speaks if you're disclosed and you tell me and it’s OS
+0.2 speaks if you don’t paraphrase (+0.2 for rebuttal too)
+0.2 speaks if you read the Keck/Dowd combo
+0.1 speaks if your cards are Times New Roman with green highlighting
+0.1 speaks if you have round reports
I will give you a 30 if you readALL defense/turns in second constructive(first rebuttal must frontline if this happens).
If it’s a prelim and both teams agree before the round, we can switch the resolution to a different one– it can be a previous topic or something new entirely.