Stop Obsessing over Debate!

Perhaps one of the funnier debate jokes I’ve seen is this—a picture showing a veteran debater introducing a novice to an unhealthy obsession with debate. At first, I simply sent it to a friend and continued with my life. However, the meme sometimes stuck with me, and I began to notice what was previously unknown to me: many of the debaters I knew were unhealthily obsessed with debate. 

Back in (shockingly) middle school, one of my partners was worryingly obsessed with his performance. I’d watch as he yelled at teammates with animosity if they didn’t perform well, trash-talked me, and other people on how we “weren’t good” at a debate and therefore not deserving of their time, and would get excessively upset if we had lost a round. It began to become apparent to me how debate, albeit an amazing activity for students, is an incredibly toxic breeding ground for devastating obsession. From there, I took an interest in the culture of the debate space. So, I’ve polled debaters from all around, asking for their insight on the culture of obsession in debate. The answers I found were a bit shocking. A whopping 89.9% of debaters felt they were obsessed with debate or knew somebody who was. 

OBSERVATION ONE!! Sorry—before we go any deeper, let’s clear something up. What’s the bright line between being obsessed and just pushing yourself to work hard (in a healthy way)? Well, as its connotation suggests, being obsessed is negative. If you’re burning out, neglecting essential things, dropping grades, and/or not getting enough sleep because of debate—it’s pretty clear you’re overworking yourself and becoming obsessed.

This is…bad. I know first-hand that this obsession is harmful (and so do 86.5% of the polled debaters). The debate community cannot continue to indulge in this toxic and obsessive behavior. So the question arises: why? Why are we pushing ourselves to obsession? Well, an anonymous volunteer might give us some insight. They write: “I felt as though I lost all time with myself. I didn’t know how to be me without my work, and I was guilty when I did take breaks. I felt like I needed to be doing something that got me ahead academically, and that I constantly needed to work because if I didn’t, someone else would pull ahead of me. Overall, a toxic competitive mindset.” Thanks, anon. 

There have been many times when I’ve walked into C32, my Public Forum debate room, to find debaters typing at 600 wpm with a cup of coffee or an energy drink next to them. Even worse, afterward I’d find them stressing over whether they lost or not, re-reading the round and their documents 100 times. It’s pretty scary (and worrying). I mean, I get competitiveness, but there has to be a line between being competitive and being outright obsessed with winning and debating. It’s unhealthy and very upsetting to watch, especially as the eye bags on debaters get worse. Similar to our anonymous respondent, their response is almost always the same: they want to win and get good. 

It’s a serious issue. It’s virulent, and it raises the bar super high. I’ve watched debaters practice before a tournament—the twist was that the practice round was a week after the topic was announced. Debate has turned into the "worklympics," where people cut 300 cards a day, have 3,000-page block files less than a month after the topic was announced, and compete to see who can have the bigger backfile. Obsession doesn’t just crank out pages of documents; it cranks you out. I’ve seen debaters burn out, quit debate, cry, not eat or sleep enough, fail classes, and become rude people because of this obsession. 

So, how can we go about fixing this issue? First, we must recognize that what we’re doing isn’t helping. We have to realize that it is an issue, not just collateral damage or a side effect. So, let’s answer the question on all our minds… 

Does overworking ourselves actually do anything, or make us better? Let’s do this the old-fashioned way: Overworking ourselves doesn’t help us do better, at all. Carmichael-15: Research suggests that overwork does not help us. For starters, it doesn’t seem to result in more output. In a study, managers could not tell the difference between employees who actually worked 80 hours a week and those who just pretended to. Evidence shows overwork hurts us. Studies have found that overwork and the resulting stress can lead to all sorts of health problems, including impaired sleep, depression, heavy drinking, diabetes, impaired memory, and heart disease. When owners limit workdays, output increase. It’s toxic, Vu-21: Our toxic obsession with productivity needs to stop. We need to stop joking about how busy and overworked we are. Our obsession with productivity is out of hand. 

Now, you might still be thinking, “Antonio, how is this relevant!!? This is about adult jobs, not speech & debate!!!” Well, my answer to that would be: it isn’t any different. If empirics are truly showing that the negative results of overworking yourself end up damaging you and your work more than helping you, then take that away. The debaters polled already tell you that overworking yourself is negative to your health, similar to working jobs. But if that doesn’t sway your mind, then don’t take it from me (a debater) or qualified studies! 

To figure out if overworking yourself for debate works, I asked one of the teammates of the #1 MSPF Team. I asked him: Do you believe overworking yourself or becoming obsessed with debate is necessary to achieve success? Darshan Chidambaram writes, “I don’t believe that overworking yourself is necessary. However, like every other activity (sports, academics, other extracurriculars), you always need to be pushing yourself. I'd also like to add that you should always be healthily pushing yourself.

So, let’s talk action. 

I know so far I’ve just been telling you overworking yourself is bad. But how do you go about solving it? Here are a few solutions: 

First, limit how much you’re working. Create a healthy limit that’ll have output but not at the cost of your well-being. 

Secondly, grow aware of the things that are becoming impacted due to your work. Noticing grades drop? Or, maybe your sleep time? If so, press your foot a little lighter on the debate prep. 

Lastly, if you believe pressure is the root cause. Tell your coaches and peers to stop pressuring you. (this goes for you coaches too!) Begin to realize you don’t need to be a work machine to achieve something, especially something high. 

I get it, debate can get competitive. It can begin to feel like the bar is infinitely rising and you need to keep up, but the reaction shouldn’t be to overwork yourself and become obsessed with becoming the best. You can become the best without hurting yourself or others in the process, pinky promise! 

Want to see the actual cut cards?! Click here!