Talk:Disadvantage

Uniqueness as necessary
Correct me if I'm wrong, but uniqueness is a necessary (if mostly implicit) component of a disadvantage. Also, it is the same as the brink-- the brink is used to prove uniqueness. Is there disagreement or may I make the edits? --Sharkfin (talk) 12:35, 30 December 2012 (MST)

Yeah you're right, uniqueness is necessary. I've never heard that the brink is used to prove the uniqueness though, it's always seemed to be more of supporting the impact rather than the uniqueness to me. Is the reasoning basically "we're almost at the edge, but not there so we obviously haven't fallen off"? I trust you know more about DA theory than me though, so feel free to edit. I'm mainly trying to get pages started with a minimum of (mostly correct) content. :) --Kingwill (talk) 12:58, 30 December 2012 (MST)

Worthy goal. :) The brink, as I've used it, means essentially that the DA is not caused by the status quo. The analogy which I usually use is "the external link is walking the aff to the edge of the cliff, the internal link is pushing them off the cliff, the brink is showing that the SQ won't walk off the cliff by itself, and the impact is the splat." It's supporting the impact in the sense that the impact is moot unless you can actually prove the aff caused the impact-- and the brink is necessary to prove uniqueness, which is necessary to prove the aff caused the impact. --Sharkfin (talk) 13:11, 30 December 2012 (MST)

hm. The way I understand it is that the links push you off the cliff, the uniqueness says you're not walking off the cliff otherwise, the brink is the cliff (or it's what says you're standing next to the cliff, or how high the cliff is), and the impact is the splat. I may have been thinking about it wrong though; I'm pretty much a self-taught debater so it wouldn't be the first time. :P I'd be curious to see how other people view it though. [wiki edited to reflect necessity of uniqueness] --Kingwill (talk) 14:43, 30 December 2012 (MST)

So, underneath that paradigm, why is the brink useful? What does it tell us? --Sharkfin (talk) 13:36, 31 December 2012 (MST)

I would say that it tells us how precarious the situation is, which is related to, but not the same as, telling us what's happening in the current situation (i.e. uniqueness). Example: constitutionality DA. Brink is "constitution on verge of becoming irrelevant" and Uniqueness is "SQ is not violating (or going to violate) the constitution." --Kingwill (talk) 16:40, 31 December 2012 (MST)