Round 3. Skyfloating v. IsaacKoi: Ancient Astronauts

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Since its obvious I am not going to catch up in star count to win this debate, I would like to give my congratulations to Isaac Koi.

Many thanks Skyfloating.

This was by far the most thought-provoking and challenging debate I've had in this tournament.

You really forced me to do quite a bit of research and spend time formulating my replies. I've had to put a few other projects on hold for the last week as a result.

I enjoyed this round much more than earlier rounds, largely due to your ingenuity and partly due to the fact that the topic was closer to my own interests (i.e. UFO/alien issues generally) which meant the debate was not merely some purely academic exercise based on superficial research.

It's a good job I'd read several books on the subject (particularly Ronald Story's books) or I'd never have been able to respond to the detailed points you raised.

Thanks for an enjoyable debate.

See you around,

Isaac

This was a very interesting and lively debate on a subject I am not familiar with but which seemed completely familiar to both participants due to the excellent levels of knowledge they displayed on the subject.

I thank both of you for an informative read.

I gave my stars to Isaackoi, simply because I felt he presented a better overall case in each segment.

His organisation was impressive and he did not labour some of the points in the way I felt his opponent did.

His evidence in support of his argument was very clear and concise within the confines of a difficult subject, very well laid out, easy to follow and logical.

A lesser opponent than Isaackoi may have crumbled under the onslaught, but he guided me through the areas he wanted to cover and scored many telling points.

Congratulations to both participants for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I don't know ... tough battle ... but the picture of the helicopter and personal research puts me in the position of leaning against the star total. I think the argument of overlapping glyphs is a little too convenient.

My personal feelings and studies find me on SkyFloating's side and it would take much more than what IsaacKoi could do in a few posts to sway me (and his posts did not have any effect on my stance) ... though I enjoy reading a different perspective, I would never agree. I can't really go into it any more, because then I would start a debate all my own against the points made in the thread, so I must be pleased with counter-pointing in my head.


I just want to say to all those who read and vote ... look stuff up on your own. You wouldn't believe how restricting the character limit is when you are debating. It is barely enough to get your point across most of the time, let alone dismiss, argue, defend, and prove against an oppenent's responses, questions, and insinuations. Even the number of posts seems small in a fun debate. That should be considered in the voting decision.

Final tally was made at 6pm Pacific on 11-13.

The judge has found in favor of skyfloating and awarded skyfloating 5 stars.

Skyfloating stayed on topic and concentrated on the direction he outlined in his opening.

Isaackoi began the debate by attempting to place boundaries on his opponent thereby neglecting the debate for that period of time.

Skyfloating said it best here.

Rather than citing the “single best piece of evidence” it is my job to build a case for the AAT and cite as many good examples as I can. The more examples, the stronger my case.

Although it made for some long reading time, Skyfloating made good use of the new “No Character Limit” rule.

Isaackoi also spent an inordinate amount of time defining his role and his opponents in the debate. Again losing valuable debate time.

Skyfloating continued to press home the debate topic, using example after example to good results.

Isaackoi got into the “meat” of the debate finally on the third post and his closing, posting evidence and refuting Skyfloating’s posts… Isaackoi’s last 2 posts were excellent yet somewhat too late. If Isaackoi had concentrated on the debate in this manner from the beginning it would have been no contest.

Taking the entire debate into consideration, I believe that Skyfloating put forth the better argument and won the debate.

IsaacKoi was penalized one star for use using a 6th source in a post.

The final count therefore is 43-37, in favor of IsaacKoi.

Let's hear it for our fighters. They did a good job and ultimately gave us a pretty close margin.