Prof. Dr. Hans van Ginkel, a renowned academia leader, spoke briefly about the differences of debate and dialogue in one of the conference that I attended recently.
In debate, we argue to win and we have to speak to be victorious.
In dialogue, it is the discourse of understanding and listening.
For a dialogue to take place, the following elements must be present:
- knowledge
- respect
- understanding
- unity in diversity
- inclusiveness
The interesting comment that Prof. van Ginkel made was universities were good in training students for debate, not dialogue. I strongly agree with this statement because university students were taught to present their viewpoint and defend the criticisms that come along the way.
Therefore, perhaps a shift in mindset is much needed, if our society wants to engage in dialogue, as most of the participants in these dialogues are trained to debate and not dialogue.
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