About the Site

The thirdparasite.com site is a policy debate project and information theory experiment in the communication and advocacy of open-source memes. It is a fusion of conceptual and technological code, represented under GPL, produced through the primarily through the influence of Ken Wark's "A Hacker Manifesto" and Alexander Galloway's "The Exploit" and "Protocol." That being said, many more influences and ideas underly these contributions and are referenced to the best of our ability here.

About the Fremont-Mills Debate Team

Quite certainly one of the smallest and most rural school districts competing in the national circuit of TOC policy debate, Fremont-Mills is a small public school district located in Tabor Iowa (approximately one hour south of Omaha Nebraska in the southwest corner of Iowa). In its second year of policy debate competition, the program had a successful first year with its Carruthers-Saker novice team winning several of the major Nebraska tournaments in the novice first-year debater category.

Competing in the Great Midwestern novice nationals tournament in April 2009, the team introduced its first critical affirmative, "Transhumanist Destiny," which reflected upon the Singularity and our individual role in engaging, embracing or rejecting the question of synthesis and evolution that may affect each of us in our lifetime. Inspired by Millard South's (Omaha Nebraska) "Finnigan's Wake" critical affirmative and rooted in the holistic resolutional advocacy discussed by debate theorists Jeffrey Bile,  Arnie Madsen & Robert Chandler, and David Berube that recalls the spirit of pre-plan debating that was the norm prior to the 1930s, Transhuminist Destiny advocated the resolution as true through the mematic discourse provided. Integrating the thought of Ray Kurzweil, Joel Garreau, Simon Young and Richard Dawkins, the case brought forward the scenarios futurists anticipate given the evidence of the Singularity looming on mankind's immediate horizon. Advocating memes as the viral alternative energy transport, the case explored our role in such a future, especially through the recognition that should the Singularity event be triggered through the expected rise of intelligent machines. Our consideration and contemplation of the Singularity prior to its occurrance and our potential for integration with the thinking machines prior to the Singularity moment may play a role in whether our future is one combined with intelligent machines, apart or nonexistent and eliminated.

The affirmative had an interesting reception where judges either completely enjoyed or outright rejected the holistic advocacy discourse. More topical than most parametric affirmatives run during the year, the case pushed the policy-only TOC style, yielding curious interpretations. Some responses included the remark that such advocacy is an abherration to debate -- a comment curious in that the case was written under the rules of debate circa 1904-1905 (Laycock & Scales, Argumentation and Debate). Even more interesting was the declaration of such rejections from judges disclosing themselves to be "tabula rasa" -- blank slates -- and exposing rigid pre-conditions that violate such judging paradigms.

2009-2010 Season

With two policy teams (one varsity, one novice) and an assortment of public forum debaters, the team will be on the Iowa and Nebraska "Great Plains" portion of the TOC circuit for much of its season, with a few special appearances at TOC tournaments outside the midwest region.

Members

Led by coach Noise, varsity policy debaters Troubadour and Satyr lead the critical charge, with novice policy debaters City Rat and Country Rat in close Serres company.