Today, I am thankful for those who can agree to disagree and still maintain an amicable relationship despite their personal, philosophical, or scientific differences.
I learned at any early age that I lacked the silver tongue and quick wit of a skilled debater. During my ninth grade year at Alfred I. DuPont Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida, I was selected to participate in a prestigious, city-wide debate competition at the Duval County Court House in downtown Jacksonville. I do not have the faintest recollection as to what the topic was being deliberated that evening. All I can recall is that I bombed. I had diligently prepared my talking points and studiously rehearsed leading up to the event; however, when the big day arrived, I failed miserably. I did a horrific job in refuting any of the arguments made by my competitors. I even failed to exhibit proper debate decorum. After I finished one of my allocated 2-minute deliveries, my counterpart began his rebuttal. Much to my chagrin, he eviscerated each of the points I had articulated. Angry and flustered, I immediately retaliated with my own points, only to be publicly chastised by the debate ‘keeper’ for speaking out of turn. My rude interruption of my challenger’s time was met with loud laughter from the crowd of parents. I crouched in my chair, trying to locate an escape route under my seat (to no avail). Mortified and disappointed, I went home, realizing my career as a trial lawyer was over.
What I failed to recognize that evening is simple. An expert debater knows that both sides of any topic can be substantiated with data to support one’s points. In fact, most debates end in a tie, wherein one side wins on some issues and the other side prevails on others. Like in most Presidential debates, a true winner is rarely ever declared. Hence, debate participants should walk away from any event with a level of civility, respect, and appreciation for their qualified opponents.
To this point, I wanted to share with you the tale of a fascinating debate that took place this exact day (Apr 26) a century ago in 1920 in what is now the Baird Auditorium in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC . Known throughout the scientific world as the ‘Great Debate,’ this 90-minute discussion pitted two renowned astronomers, Harlow Shapley and Huber Curtis, on a topic that was of great interest to the National Academy of Science sponsors: How large is the universe anyway? Shapley argued that the universe was comprised of a single galaxy of immense size, while Curtis maintained that our Milky Way was relatively small and just one of many independent galaxies throughout the vast universe. Shapley gave a very practical presentation wherein he shared data providing ‘proof’ that our galaxy was indeed very large but singular in nature, with the Sun somewhat off-center in the Milky Way. Curtis countered with his own research showing that our galaxy was just one of many in the universe, but with the Sun centered in the middle of the Milky Way. After they both finished their presentations, they each had a chance to ask one question to their challenger. The event concluded amicably after a few additional comments were shared by the astronomers in attendance.
Well, it turns out that both scientists were correct on some points. In due time, we would learn that Curtis was correct in asserting that the Milky Way is not alone, but just one of billions of galaxies. However, Shapley was more accurate in his estimate of the size of the Milky Way, and he was also correct in pointing out that Sun was off-center in our galaxy.
They never knew who won that night. It wouldn’t be until 1929 when Edwin Hubble would prove that the Milky Way was in fact one of many galaxies in a vast universe. Instead, Shapley and Curtis ended the night, sitting together, laughing, and sharing stories at the dinner table. I’d like to think they raised a toast to science, but, sadly, it was 1920. They were still stuck in the midst of the Prohibition Era.
Well, at least neither got drunk enough that night to howl at the moon or any other celestial body out in that vast wasteland known as space.
Comentários