Redstate

By cruxlux Posted in Blogosphere — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Versions of this invitation cross-posted (and will be cross-posted) at a few varied blogs. Please do take a look at the below invitation—we’ll watch if there are any comments or questions! Thanks.

One of the most frustrating things about the current political and media environment is of course the way that reasoned, logical, evidence-based debate (about anything) seems to have been completed replaced by spin and blind repetition of talking points. People of all political leanings feel that others don’t confront arguments or employ reason (and of course in some cases it’s true).
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- What if there were a platform where ignoring arguments against one’s perspective wasn’t possible, where people could make their case but also be forced to directly answer the opposing side?

- What if there were a place where nonsense and nonsense peddlers could be exposed as such to the whole world, and strong ideas defended against all comers?

- What if there were a way communities could explore issues in a highly systematic, yet fun and reader-friendly, way?

Now there’s a platform that can do all this and more: Cruxlux. We wanted to accomplish something great for the blogosphere and we’d like to cordially invite you all to try out the tool (either at cruxlux.com or in your own blogs—more on that at the bottom).

Cruxlux is a powerful platform for online debates. Its intuitive format shows supports and counterarguments to any assertion (and supports/counterarguments to those, etc.), neatly decomposing an issue and exposing the facts or values on which differing camps diverge. The sophisticated credibility and scoring systems move top arguments up and prevent one side from sabotaging another. The ultimate result is a comprehensive but concise resource that captures all sides of the issue and is there for all to see.

Cruxlux allows one to issue challenges to other members, groups, or outside bloggers/organizations. (If someone’s not willing to back up their views on truly neutral turf—or at least have any supporters willing to do so—that says something in itself.) It is perhaps naïve to think that the most close-minded can be convinced, but at the least it will expose exactly where the differences arise, and lay out the issue for the rest of the world, which hopefully can be convinced.

How can you use Cruxlux? Well, either you can use it directly at Cruxlux.com or you can embed Cruxlux within your own blog (for free), enabling you to have intra- or inter-blog debates from within your own site. If you’re interested in this, contact us.

What are the types of issues that you can explore with Cruxlux? As you can see on the site, anything! One example was on
waterboarding. Click on the “>” to the left of a post to expose counterarguments. Mouseover “Focus” to see any supports. There's a brand new question on the topic raised here of who Reagan would vote for.

What are situations where you might want to use Cruxlux? Perhaps you’re discussing with someone in the comments here about a contentious issue—you could use Cruxlux to explore the pro/con. Or you want to challenge a leftist group (or just a liberal acquaintance) to debate something—go ahead and issue the challenge through Cruxlux and use us as neutral turf. Or just cross post a diary at Cruxlux.com and see various perspectives. We’re also putting together a few organized initiatives right now, including one around the Presidential campaigns (any of you who are actively supporting someone, and are interested in learning more about this, get in touch).

Hope you find Cruxlux a useful tool for your blogs. And we’re still improving it too (exciting new features coming soon!). Do let us know if you have any questions or comments. As mentioned above, we’re happy to help blogs embed, or just use Cruxlux.com directly. Thanks!