Changing the Future One Conversation at a Time
Debate teaches us how to win. Consultation teaches us how to understand. When young people learn to think with one another instead of against one another, something extraordinary happens: solutions appear that none of us could have created alone.
You might think debate clubs are a modern invention. But people have been practicing the art of thinking out loud together for thousands of years.
Long before anyone stood behind a podium with a timer clicking down, the old Greek thinkers sharpened their minds through simple conversation. Socrates and Plato asked questions the way artists sketch, with light strokes at first, then deeper ones, letting ideas take shape as they talked. Aristotle later tried to organize this whole process, guiding people on how to reason clearly and speak with purpose. And when the world’s attention shifted to Rome, speakers like Cicero treated good communication almost like a public service. Teachers trained their students by giving them pretend court cases to argue, not so different from what students still do today.
Jump ahead to the Middle Ages, when universities looked nothing like they do now. A teacher would pose a big, thorny question, and students would rise—one to defend an answer, another to challenge it. They might go back and forth for hours. These “disputations” were how you showed you truly understood an idea.
Later, during the Enlightenment, people read more, cared more about public life, and gathered in lively clubs where learning mixed with entertainment. Those gatherings eventually became today’s formal debate teams, complete with rules, tournaments, and trophies.
Modern debate teaches all the things we celebrate: clear thinking, strong research, confident speaking, careful listening. All of that is real. But underneath, something more emotional and human is happening.
Debate teaches you how to argue. It teaches you how to win. And winning isn’t about how smart you are.
People who excel in debate learn a special skill: they don’t tie their identity to their ideas. They can switch perspectives in an instant, drop an argument the moment it stops working, and adjust their tone to match the room. They don’t take challenges personally. They treat the whole thing like a puzzle rather than a battlefield.
On the other hand, I’ve seen brilliant people lose. Not because their ideas were weaker, but because they felt attacked the moment their argument cracked. Their heart raced. Their voice tightened. They stopped listening. It’s a very human reaction. When we think, “If my idea is wrong, I am wrong,” everything becomes a threat.
In truth, debate is maybe twenty percent logic and eighty percent psychology. Whoever stays calm, sets the tone, and guides the story usually has the advantage, even if their evidence isn’t the strongest.
And that makes me wonder: if we can teach young people how to speak well enough to win, could we also teach them to speak well enough to lift each other up?
This is where consultation comes in.
Consultation is a different kind of conversation. Instead of trying to beat one another, people work together to understand a question. Ideas aren’t weapons to defend; they’re gifts to explore. The goal isn’t to fight for your position but to look at a problem from every angle and stay open to better thinking as it emerges.
In consultation, something beautiful happens. Communication becomes a shared project. Students learn to think with one another instead of against one another. They realize that when different viewpoints are woven together thoughtfully, entirely new solutions appear—solutions no single person could have created alone.
Success isn’t about winning. It’s about listening deeply, speaking kindly, thinking clearly, and arriving at insights that belong to everyone.
And what grows from this is more than communication skills. It builds friendships. It strengthens emotional resilience. It forms habits of mind that help people work together, grow together, and serve their communities with humility and courage.
This is why I believe Consultation Clubs can be the next way we teach young people to communicate and solve problems. Debate isn’t bad; it can be wonderful. But consultation can take us further. It invites us to practice a way of thinking that the world desperately needs: less winning, more understanding; less fighting, more solving. At its core, consultation fosters empathy, the ability to listen, understand others’ perspectives, and come together on solutions that respect everyone’s views. This kind of approach isn't about arguing ideas. It's about helping people connect, make decisions, and take action together in a better way.
And for me, creating Consultation Clubs will be one of the ways I hope to serve humanity.
If this vision resonates with you, if you’ve ever hoped for a gentler, wiser way for students to learn how to speak, think, and work together, then you may love working like this in the future. Consultation doesn’t grow from one mind alone; it grows from the diversity of many.