4.1 Familiarizing Yourself with Debates
（ディベートに慣れ親しむ）
May and I am going to attend an international seminar where young researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds participate. We are both very excited to get to know other researchers.
However, one big concern is that we are going to take part in a debate as debaters.
That’s exciting news, but you must be under pressure.
Actually, I don’t know much about what the debate is about.
We are worried about its topic. We are going to debate whether human gene editing should be banned or not.
The topic is alien to us. We’ve never come across such a topic and we have no clue what to discuss!
The topic sounds difficult, but think about the context in which the debate will be held. It’s an international and interdisciplinary seminar. The topic must have been decided because anyone can debate it, no matter what national or disciplinary backgrounds they are from.
So there must be ways in which we can debate human gene editing!
Maybe we can present our own opinions.
Exactly. That’s where the art of debate lies. However, it is important to first familiarize yourself with the debate itself.
That’s challenging. To be honest, I’ve never participated in a formal debate.
Me neither. I don’t have the slightest idea what a debate entails.
A debate varies widely in terms of its formats, and different formats are associated with different rules that define how a debate proceeds.
I was told by the organizer of the seminar that the debate will be held in a general format.
What do you mean by “a general format?”
Then what we have to do is clear. Let me explain and clarify what that means.