Despite the efforts of retail giants to commercialize Halloween, October 31 remains my favorite holiday. What’s not to like about a day that encourages chocolate consumption?

To kick off the festivities, I propose three ways that mediators can get in on the celebration:

1. Consider a daring new practice area.

A business in Indonesia advertises itself as “the last resort for professional ghost removal and mediation services” (emphasis mine). In addition to serving as mediators in your disputes with the damned, they are also available to assist as negotiators on your behalf to rid your home of pesky poltergeists. They seem to rely upon an integrative, interest-based negotiation framework, according to their web site:

…some entities have a demand since they have a ‘territory’ to respect. Sometimes we need to know their intention and demand before we remove them.

Evidently, successful negotiations with the dead, much as with the living, depend upon a thorough exploration of mutual interests. (One can only imagine the discussion about BATNA.)

2. Sign up for a course in intergalactic conflict resolution.

Mediators eager to explore new frontiers may wish to consider one of the courses taught at the Exopolitics Institute (featured here before on this blog): either Exopolitics 102: Citizen Diplomacy with Extraterrestrials, which includes a module on conflict resolution and mediation for the resolution of interplanetary disputes, or Multidimensional Ambassadors - Peace Building with ETs, Angels and Dolphins. (While there’s time, don’t forget to sign up for the Extraterrestrial Civilizations and World Peace Conference in May 2007.)

3. Do some seasonal reading to get into the holiday spirit.

May I suggest this post of mine from last Halloween: “High spirits: legal issues can arise on sale of haunted houses“, which concludes with discussion of an unsuccessful effort to bring a lawsuit against Satan.

Happy Halloween, everybody.

Digital negotiation systems and tools abound, from the sophisticated logarithms of Smart Settle, which is designed to enable users to “achieve fair and efficient solutions that are truly Beyond Win-Win®” to the Fair Division Calculator which promises “envy-free divisions of goods, burdens, or rent” (and costs nothing to use).

The latest to join their ranks is Parley Negotiation Software, created by the Berlin-based Theory. Parley allows for brainstorming, analysis of preferences, and evaluation of all possible agreements, together with tracking of negotiation history.

A free 30-day trial is available for downloading (a good thing since Parley costs $460 for the complete version with one year of support and updates). Parley’s tutorial provides a walk-through demonstration of a simple employment negotiation.

Avast, ye swabs! It’s a pirate’s life at the special Halloween edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in law blogging, hosted by uber-blogger Denise Howell.

There’s plunder aplenty, even for mediators: swashbuckler Geoff Sharp gets a mention and a link to the launch pad for his new Mediation vBlog Project.

There’s a little mediation history in the making going on right now in cyberspace.

My friend Geoff Sharp, the Wellington, New Zealand, attorney and mediator who publishes the witty and irreverent weblog Mediator Blah…Blah…, has launched the world’s very first mediation video blog, the Mediation vBlog Project.

Geoff has extended an open invitation to mediators around the world to participate in this first-of-its-kind forum:

I started on this project because I have always been a little uneasy about the way we mediators work behind closed doors, without much sunlight in the room …so time to change that with the video blog project.

My hope is that we’re going to be the first, the very first, to track our practice by video blog - a kind of mediation genome project by video blog.

The idea is to take advantage of recent video sharing technology to post short video clips of mediators everywhere at work, the more live the better. The growth of video social networking is amazing with 60,000 new videos uploaded every day and over 100 million viewed every day, as more people explore this type of online medium.

So the aim is ambitious. The object of the vBlog Project is to provide a platform for mediators from all over the world to share our images by video. It may take some getting used to but think of the possibilities for exchange when you see colleagues in Germany, UK and Boston debriefing a mediation or giving us a glimpse of themselves as they go about their professional life. One things for sure, unless you contribute the project won’t take off, so how about giving it a go?

Geoff asked me to record the first video clip to welcome him and, of course, you. You can see for yourself at the Mediation vBlog Project.

(And don’t forget the popcorn.)

The Internet is a place of continuous discovery. At once marketplace, library, and public square, its wealth of voices, viewpoints, and ideas never ceases to delight and enlighten me.

Although the pleasures of new discoveries are great, there are places on the web that I find myself returning to often, just as any of us do in the real world we inhabit. One of these for me is the blog Idealawg, published by Stephanie West Allen. With an original voice, this blog explores and reveals the art within the practice of law. It skillfully traverses ground as well that mediators will feel at home in–idea productivity, restorative justice, conflict resolution, client relations, and, of course, mediation.

This fall Stephanie introduced a new feature, Legal Highlights–interviews with members of the legal profession aimed at putting the focus on what’s right and what’s working with the legal profession and justice. As Stephanie explains:

One of my goals with Legal Highlights is to balance out, perhaps round out, all that we read and hear about what’s wrong with the legal profession and system. With the Highlights, let’s focus on the uplifting, the affirmative, the effective, the professional, the gratified, the decent, the good.

Stephanie honored me recently by inviting me to participate in a Legal Highlights interview–the fourth one in this series. You can read it here.

(Thank you, Stephanie–and congratulations on creating such a fine resource for dispute resolution professionals.)

The 80th edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in law blogging, is now available. Blawg Review, which highlights noteworthy posts from top law bloggers around the world, is a recommended stop in cyberspace for not just attorneys but mediators as well. (For reasons why, please read, “So you’re too busy to ready blogs? Why attorneys and mediators should read Blawg Review“. FYI, ADR professionals and mediation-friendly attorneys frequently serve as hosts. I’ll be hosting myself on February 5, 2007.)

However, the hard-working editor of Blawg Review has run into some unfortunate difficulties with its blog publishing platform, Blogger. Until Blogger’s problems are sorted out, Blawg Review #80 has been published at the main URL www.blawgreview.com, which has been re-directed to a backup site that had to be created as a workaround.

(In the meantime, this should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone thinking about launching a blog with Blogger. I have used Blogger, too, since I first began publishing this blog almost two years ago, and while it’s free and easy to use, its instability has long been an issue. I’m thinking about moving elsewhere. This is a good reason why.)

One of the great things about the internet, particularly what is known as Web 2.0–the second wave of digital technology that has made the internet a far more social and participatory place– is that fresh discoveries are always possible. Its potential seems so limitless that it can make trailblazers of us all, if we can simply find our niche.

There potentially remain many firsts yet to claim, within our reach, even here in the conflict resolution field. Consider these examples:

• Bill Warters, Campus-ADR Tech Tools: first blog ever on ADR and conflict resolution
• Perry Itkin, Florida Mediator, world’s first mediation blog
• Miquel Tort, Blog Solomediacion.com, world’s first Spanish language blog
• Dina Beach Lynch, Mediation Mensch, first African-American to blog about mediation and first person to use a blog to coach mediators
• Josh Weiss, Negotiating Tip of the Week, world’s first negotiation podcast
• Me, World Directory of ADR Blogs, another first

You get the picture.

Now another conflict resolution professional is blazing a brand-new trail.

Tammy Lenski, who somehow finds time to publish not just one but two blogs, “I Can’t Say That” and “Mediation Marketing from Mediator Tech“, is doing something that no other mediator has done. She is writing a book on marketing for mediators, using her blog Mediator Tech as the publishing platform. Visitors to Mediator Tech see “Making Mediation Your Day Job” unfold, chapter by chapter. As writer, Tammy benefits from readers’ feedback. Readers of course benefit as well from Tammy’s experience.

The good news is that there’s still plenty of room for you to be a pioneer yourself in cyberspace. Not all the great ideas have been taken. (In fact, I can’t wait to tell you about another first for the mediation field. However, like a good mediator, I’ve promised to keep it confidential. At least for now. I think the wraps come off this week, so check back soon.)

A recent press release from Jim Melamed at Mediate.com reminds me of the words from the 1969 Who classic: “We’re Not Gonna Take It“.

It’s mediators who aren’t taking it any more, and what they’re not taking is the failure on the part of world leaders to engage in effective negotiations to defuse once and for all the crises breaking out around the globe.

From the press release:

Senior Mediators Release Statement Urging Effective Negotiation Approaches

There comes a time when even mediators will speak up. Mediators are conflict resolvers who help others to resolve conflict in a voluntary and constructive way. Mediators are normally quiet, priding themselves on their impartiality and neutrality. Now, however, over 75 of the world’s leading mediators have “had enough” according to Mediate.com CEO Jim Melamed, and have signed a statement urging that community, national and global leaders engage effective negotiation and mediation approaches. Here is the text of the Mediators’ Statement developed at the recent Senior Mediators Conference in Keystone, Colorado:

Given that the world is confronted with real and perceived threats from several international arenas we, the undersigned, urge that citizens of our nations insist their elected and appointed government officials immediately engage in honest, direct and unconditional negotiations with all authorities and powers who can resolve these pending crises in ways that are equitable and practical for all concerned without sacrifice to national sovereignty or security. As citizens of the world and as professional negotiators and mediators we urge that proven conflict resolution processes be employed now.

To show your support , visit the web site for the International Coalition of Concerned Mediators at www.concernedmediators.org.

Pass it on.

Since detailed instructions on how to sue a mediator are readily available online, as the ever-vigilant Geoff Sharp has reported, perhaps it’s time to dust off an article of mine that first appeared a couple of years ago in the newsletter of the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution: “An Ounce of Prevention or a Pound of Cure: Making the Decision to Purchase Professional Liability Insurance for Mediators” (in PDF).

It’s one of those things that no mediator should be without.

This Friday, I’m co-teaching with colleagues Melinda Gehris and Ericka Gray a one-day advanced training on “Mediating Workplace Disputes”. (We’re booked solid with a lengthy waiting list, but we’ll be holding the program again on April 27, 2007 — registration details to be announced as soon as we put the finishing touches on our 2007 mediation training calendar.)

The three of us have developed a training manual for the program, which contains a list of online resources for ADR workplace professionals which I compiled. Not surprisingly, this list includes the titles of a number of superb blogs that focus on workplace issues from a variety of vantage points. They’re well worth a visit.

In no particular order they are:

BostonWorks Hiring Hub: The HR Blog. This blog provides frequently updated links to human resources and recruiting information around the web.

George’s Employment Blawg. Written by attorney George Lenard, this highly respected blog posts news, analysis and comments on labor and employment law, human resources, and other work-related topics.

Gruntled Employees. From this blog’s home page: “Managers, executives, in-house counsel, and HR people know all about disgruntled employees. They cost employers billions of dollars each year in lawsuits, attorneys’ fees, lost productivity, and wasted time. Here we discuss how to keep employees gruntled. Employer advocate and counsel Jay Shepherd leads the discussion.”

The HR Lawyer’s Blog. The title says it all.

Law Firm Diversity: A Rational Discussion. Created to promote discussion about the business case for diversity.

Ross’s Arbitration Blog. A good source of news on all things related to arbitration, including employment and labor developments, published by the knowledgeable Ross Runkel.

Strategic HR Lawyer. Covering strategic human resource management and employment law.

Suits in the Workplace: An Employment Law Blog.

Thoughts from a Management Lawyer. Known for its thoughtful discussion and commentary on Canadian labour and employment law issues, this blog is published by Toronto attorney Michael Fitzgibbon.

Transgender Workplace Diversity. This blog covers transgender workplace diversity issues for human resources and diversity professionals.

Workplace Prof Blog. A member of the Law Professor Blogs Network and co-authored by law professors Richard Bales and Paul Secunda, this blog tracks and reports on developments in labor and employment law, including matters relating to alternative dispute resolution and the workplace, particularly arbitration.

Workplace Fairness. This blog covers the latest developments in workplace rights and employment law, with a special focus on employee rights and fairness issues in the workplace.

Workplaces That Work. A newcomer to the blogging scene, this blog focuses its attention on workplace fairness and excellence–the qualities that make workplaces work well.

With Conflict Resolution Day just around the corner (October 19, in fact), conflict resolvers may be interested to know that today marks the official release date of the video game Bully, produced by Take Two Interactive Software, Inc. under its Rockstar Games label.

Bully depicts the adventures of teenager Jim Hopkins as he stands up to the obstacles–social, educational, and physical–that await him at fictitious private school Bullworth Academy (motto: canis canem edit—dog eat dog).
(For a post last year from this blog that covered Bully and pop culture depictions of conflict, please read “Seeing ourselves: conflict and negotiation in popular culture“.)

Many months before its release, angry parents, lawmakers, and educators on both sides of the Atlantic denounced Bully and called for an outright ban on its distribution and sale in protest of its purported glorification of high school violence–before any of them had even seen the game first-hand. One attorney, Jack Thompson, a conservative crusader against violence and sex in the media, is currently seeking to have Bully deemed a public nuisance in violation of Florida law.

Surprisingly, however, media and gaming experts who previewed the game report that Bully in fact has little violence. Clive Thompson, author of the blog Collision Detection, had this to say about Bully in a recent article on Wired.com:

It turns out the game doesn’t glorify bullying at all.

Indeed, it’s almost precisely the opposite.

…Instead, most of your early missions involve you defending the helpless: Escorting weak-bladdered nerds past phalanxes of threatening athletes, or sneaking into the girls’ locker room to retrieve an essay that popular cheerleader stole from a helpless she-geek…

Bully, however, may be subversive in ways that its opponents didn’t anticipate. According to Thompson, Bully functions as no-holds-barred polemic on the rigid social hierarchies and daily injustices that high school life is susceptible to:

Peel back the hood on the ludic violence, and Rockstar’s games have a surprisingly consistent moral view: Those with power will inevitably abuse it. It is a conclusion that would not displease Thomas Hobbes, or even Thomas Jefferson.

That’s why Bully is, in many ways, the ultimate Rockstar game. By turning to high school, the designers have found the perfect locale for exploring the cliquishness, unfairness and brutality of everyday society.

Which proves once again that things are not always what they seem.

When I first began blogging almost two years ago, I could literally count on one hand the number of active dispute resolution blogs in cyberspace. It was lonely out there.

Today, however, I’ve got plenty of company as more and more mediators, arbitrators, and other kinds of dispute resolution professionals plug into the power of the blog.

Just over a week ago I announced that I had added four more blogs to the World Directory of ADR Blogs. Now five more have joined them. One comes from Argentina (the Directory’s first), another from India (another first for the Directory), two from Portugal, and one from the U.S. What follows are their descriptions:

ADR&ODR . Published by arbitrator, consultant, and advocate Praveen Dalal, the managing partner of Perry4law, a professional law firm in Delhi, this blog seeks to spread public awareness about alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and online dispute resolution (ODR) in India. For a example of the solid writing and extensive research that characterize the posts that have appeared on this blog so far, read “Electronic Governance in India: an ODR Perspective“.

Associação de Mediadores de Conflitos. This is the unofficial weblog of the Association of Portuguese Conflict Mediators, created to promote the informal exchange of ideas among those who seek alternatives to resolving conflict. From the web site: “Bem-vindo ao “Blog” (não oficial) da Associação dos Mediadores de Conflitos Portugueses, um espaço informal para troca de ideias entre todos os que se interessam por resolução alternativa de conflitos!”

Conflito: uma oportunidade!This blog, published in Portugal also, irresistibly envisions conflict as an opportunity for personal growth and deepening of relationships. It was created to share information and ideas with all those who are interested in learning more about alternative dispute resolution. From the web site: “O conflito como oportunidade de crescimento pessoal e de aprofundamento das relações…Um espaço ao dispor de todos os que se interessam pela resolução alternativa de conflitos.”

The remaining two were already featured in earlier posts here and here at Online Guide to Mediation. They are:

PrimusLex.com Blog. PrimusLex.com, a free online forum and network for young lawyers worldwide to access and share information and ideas about international commercial arbitration, includes among its resources this weblog which members are encouraged to create and submit content to. This is the World Directory of ADR Blog’s first Argentinian blog. Currently little content has been posted so far, but hopefully this will change as PrimusLex.com gathers both members and momentum.

SHLEP: The Self-Help Law ExPress. SHLEP was launched by retired mediator and attorney David Giacalone to provide the public with news and views on self-help law and pro se litigation. It seeks to empower individuals to solve wherever possible legal problems themselves, helping them connect with resources and information.

If you wish to add your blog or someone else’s to the World Directory of ADR Blogs, please let me know. It’s a commercial-free site, and there is no cost to be listed. The Directory has information on submitting your blog and submission guidelines.

Technorati tags: alternative dispute resolution, blogging, mediation, mediation blogs, conflict resolution

Retired attorney and mediator David Giacalone, justifiably honored last year by Blawg Review with the 2005 Creative Law Blog Award for f/k/a, a law blog blending poetry with punditry, is now founding editor and host of a new blog.

SHLEP: The Self-Help Law ExPress was created with the aim of empowering individuals to solve wherever possible legal problems themselves–a goal which mediators will recognize and applaud.

SHLEP explains its mission this way:

For more than two centuries, American consumers have been shlepping toward justice — they’ve been manacled to an expensive lawyer in order to solve a legal problem, or to protect, assert or defend their rights. Our courts have become costly, complicated, lawyer-centered bureaucracies, rather than the accessible, client-centered dispute resolution centers they should be…

The self-help law movement strives to give legal consumers the tools and assistance necessary to solve most of their legal problems themselves — if they choose — including, at times, representing themselves in court as pro se litigants. The movement and process has been led by courts that are being overwhelmed with unrepresented parties, and by consumer advocates who believe that fair and effective access to justice is a universal right that should finally be made a reality in 21st Century America…

SHLEP’s goal is to bring the benefits of a daily weblog to the Self-Help Law movement. We have assembled a Team of contributors with diverse expertise, skills and perspectives, to make it happen. Developments and news about self-help will be presented, and viewpoints expressed. In addition to creating or organizing background materials for those who want to find self-help resources, the shlep Team will attempt to keep readers informed of self-help resources available to the public and to professional providers of those services, of studies and reports on self-help law and related issues, of relevant symposia and meetings, and of the people and groups aiding (or obstructing) the movement.

Mediators will want to visit one post in particular: “Divorce mediation: mutual self-help,” which describes the benefits that mediation offers to divorcing couples and links to mediation resources.

Best of luck to the SHLEP team in this first-of-its-kind blog project. (With thanks to David Giacalone for sharing with me the link.)

As the saying goes, there is no “I” in “team”. But that may be more the result of our cerebral hardwiring than formative years spent playing Little League.

According to a study published in the journal Science, scientists have discovered a region of the brain that overrides selfishness and helps humans behave more collaboratively.

From HealthDay:

Experiments involving a “fairness” game show that the right side of this region — called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — helps people suppress selfish urges in obviously unjust situations, even at their own expense.

When researchers used a mild electric current to temporarily short-circuit this area, the law of the jungle quickly reasserted itself…

The Swiss and American team behind this research noted that, despite a long history of crime, wars and rapaciousness, human beings are innately cooperative. In fact, Homo sapiens is the only species to exhibit “reciprocal fairness” — the punishment of others’ unfair behaviors, even in situations where doing so hurts the punisher…

Why might this be so? Humans are highly socially evolved, and punishing unfairness “helps sustain cooperation in groups,” said study lead researcher Ernst Fehr, director of the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics at the University of
Zurich.

Because more cohesive groups tend to have better survival prospects, humans who suppress their immediate urges end up on the “winning team,” evolutionarily speaking.

If you can’t get enough about studies on human behavior, you may like to check out the following posts:

• Decisions, decisions: study shows unconscious mind handles tough decisions better.
• Tunnel vision: studies show there’s plenty we don’t see.
• Accentuate the positive: studies reveal human propensity for reframing to see good in outcomes.
• Caught napping: the benefits of napping include enhanced ability to problem solve.

(Via Boing Boing.)

On Thursday, October 12, 2006, at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST, 7 p.m. UK/Ireland, and 7 a.m. the following day, October 13, in New Zealand), I will be participating in a panel discussion on Marketing Mediation Excellence.

This free online teleconference was masterminded and organized by John DeBruyn, a transactional attorney based in Denver. Panel members include John DeBruyn, dispute resolution expert Louise Wildee, and bloggers Robert Ambrogi, Gini Nelson, Geoff Sharp, and me.

The one-hour program will consist of a 40-minute presentation by the panel, followed by 20 minutes for questions and discussion. Audience members may connect via long distance telephone or voice over the internet using Skype, which requires a high-speed internet connection.

Further information about the program and registration is available at http://coadr.com/. Hope you’ll be able to tune in!

Those who have an interest in or practice international commercial arbitration now have an online forum to exchange ideas and experiences, thanks to PrimusLex.com.

According to its web site, PrimusLex.com provides an “open, free and fully interactive on-line forum and network for young lawyers worldwide to access and share information and ideas about international commercial arbitration”, and promotes the “exchange of experiences and knowledge that are often difficult to access given the disparate and decentralized nature of international commercial arbitration”.

PrimusLex.com also includes a blog, to which members are encouraged to submit content.

To learn more about this project or to become a member at no cost, visit PrimusLex.com.

Justin Patten, an innovative British solicitor whose cutting edge work focuses on the nexus among people, technology, and the law, hosts this week’s edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in law blogging, at his weblog Human Law.

This marks an important milestone in Blawg Review’s impressive career: this is the first time that a British blogger has served as host.

Justin, a talented blogger with a large following, is currently working on a book that explores the themes that his blog discusses so ably, Blogging and Other Social Media: Technology and Law.

Justin is also a long-time supporter of alternative dispute resolution, and his blog is listed at the World Directory of ADR Blogs.

Please stop by and visit this world-class edition of Blawg Review.

(My thanks and best regards to Justin, who kindly included a link to Online Guide to Mediation.)

I’ve been tracking alternative dispute resolution blogs since June 2005, when I conducted my first informal and utterly unscientific survey. It was followed a few days later by a more carefully conducted census, which turned up a mere 18 ADR blogs in various stages of activity or neglect.

Flash forward to October 2006. Today there are enough ADR blogs for me to track and catalogue them in their very own World Directory of ADR Blogs. The head count now stands at 65 (if my addition is correct), comprising bloggers from 11 countries.

Four more were added just today from different parts of the world: Canada, Brazil, Germany, and the U.S. I’d like to introduce them to you:

Brazilian Arbitration Law. Published by Brazilian attorney Pedro Oliveira, this blog’s purpose is twofold: to discuss topics related to Brazilian and international arbitration in general; and to share information of interest for foreign practitioners on Brazilian arbitration law, in the English language.

Master of Mediation. This German language blog focuses on mediation and alternative approaches to managing conflict. From its description: “Streiflichter zur Mediation als alternatives Konfliktlösungsmodell im Allgemeinen, zur Ausbildung im Besonderen und weitere Nebensächlichkeiten”.

Open Discourse: International Dispute Resolution. Created by Erin E. Gleason, an attorney and specialist in conflict resolution with an emphasis on international policy and procedure, this blog provides, in Erin’s words, “a discussion forum for those of us who are interested in international dispute resolution, but who may not have the gray hair to prove it. My intent is to provide information on conferences and organizations which may assist younger practitioners in developing an international dispute resolution practice. I’ll also provide my own, humble insights on current developments in this area and welcome comments from others.”

Workplaces That Work. This blog, published by Canadian mediator and arbitrator Blaine Donais, a conflict resolution specialist, is dedicated to making workplaces work. It is based upon the theory that workplace conflict management systems can be measured for fairness and that fairness excellence can be achieved. Blaine is also the author of the newly published Workplaces That Work: A Guide to Conflict Management Systems in Union and Non-Union Workplaces, which looks to be an invaluable resource for ADR professionals specializing in workplace conflict.

I’ve also added a new page to the World Directory of ADR Blogs to highlight the Directory’s latest additions and to give them the special attention they deserve.

If you wish to add your blog or someone else’s to the World Directory of ADR Blogs, please let me know. It’s a commercial-free site, and there is no cost to be listed. The Directory has information on submitting your blog and submission guidelines.

Technorati tags: alternative dispute resolution, blogging, mediation, mediation blogs, conflict resolution

This week’s edition of Harvard Business School’s newsletter, Working Knowledge, features a Q&A session with James Sebenius and David Lax, authors of 3-D Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals. This online interview explores the three dimensions of effective negotiating: tactics, deal design, and set-up.

To subscribe to the HBS Working Knowledge newsletter, which frequently includes articles that explore negotiation strategy and techniques (and is completely free), visit the HBS Working Knowledge web site.

Debate these days, whether in the political arena or on national news programs, reminds me more and more of these words from Shakespeare’s immortal Macbeth:

…it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

So much of what masquerades as discourse lacks logic, reason, and support. Talking heads hurl unsubtantiated opinions back and forth across the airwaves or through cyberspace.

There are, however, those who seek a different path. Those who long for a more rigorous and disciplined approach to debate will welcome the advent of Debatus, a wiki forum for meaningful, structured argumentation.

From the Debatus mission statement:

Debatus is translating this force of the internet and “wikis” to the presentation and refinement of substantiated argumentation and debates. The aim is to foster the ordered and concise presentation of the primary argumentation for and against certain positions. This has not truly been achieved through traditional mediums of newspapers, journals, scholarly work, books. The basic problems of these traditional sources is that they lack a sound point-counterpoint structure, rely on too few minds, and become closed to refinement when ‘printed’. Blogs suffer from basically the same problems because they rely on “posts” that are locked away from refinement and reduction, and generally lack a structured methodology for debate. Debatus moves beyond these limitations.

Debatus sets some basic guidelines for participants: No personal opinion. Arguments must be supported by third-party facts and hew to a standard of logical consistency. A premium is placed upon conciseness and objectivity. Facts must be derived from credible sources.

For more information on this extraordinary collective experiment in principled debate, visit the Debatus web site.