Great American Philosophy

Every year, a rural Midwestern town hosts a debate competition where everyday philosophers contemplate weighty issues. It's must-see TV.

My favorite live broadcast of the year isn’t the Tonys or the Oscars or even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Though these are definitely in my top five.)

Topping my list instead is the YouTube stream of an annual event called The Great American Think-Off.

The Think-Off is a debate that is also a contest. It is filled with drama and twists and eloquence and meaning and might just change the way you live your life.

This year’s Think-Off is tomorrow, June 8, and takes place, as it always does, in a school auditorium in rural New York Mills, Minnesota (population 1,301). You can watch it live on YouTube starting at 8pm EST.

I discovered the Think-Off in June of 1998, when I was a production assistant at C-SPAN, which in those years covered it live. From the moment it began, I was entranced, watching everyday people deliver cogent, entertaining arguments on either side of that year’s debate topic: “Is honesty always the best policy?” (That it happened to be the year of the Lewinsky scandal might have made it especially riveting.)

Hosted by the New York Mills Cultural Center, the three-hour program has been an annual town tradition since 1993. Here’s how it works: Every year, on the first of January, the center releases a topic to be debated. It always takes the form of a question, and over the years, there have been some real head-scratchers, such as:

• Which is more important: to win or to play by the rules?

• Love or fear: which motivates us more?

• Which is more ethical: sticking to principle or being willing to compromise?

• Does God exist?

• Does poetry matter?

• Which is more dangerous — science or religion?

This year’s (very timely) theme: “Is freedom of speech worth the cost?”

Once the theme is in play, people from all over the world are invited to submit essays of up to 750 words. Four finalists are announced in May, and the center pays for their travel to New York Mills to debate the question in front of a live audience the following month. The Think-Off’s first half consists of the contenders reading their essays (two on either side of the issue). During a break, the audience votes on two finalists, who go on to field questions from the moderator. A final audience vote determines “America’s Greatest Thinker.”

This year’s contestants include a full-time caregiver, a communications-studies professor, a professional storyteller and an engineering consultant. And I can all but guarantee each will be persuasive. Perhaps the headiest part of the event for me is the sensation of changing my mind in the span of an evening. It’s become commonplace for me to start a Think-Off with one opinion and end the evening with an entirely new one. Today, I’m all but positive that freedom of speech is always worth the cost, but who knows how I’ll feel after Saturday?

The Think-Off is ultimately a celebration of what it means to be a free society. We are all philosophers in our own way, sharing our opinions, kvetching and pontificating whenever the moment is right and sometimes even when it’s not. In our superficial and fast-paced culture, I welcome this rare experience to feel intellectually transported and let the arguments of regular people guide me to unexpected places. It’s not just novel; it’s invigorating.