Maps | General information (large file!) | Details and features | Specifications | Issue areas | Press release Methodology | Background paper | The cartographic metaphor | Criteria | How the maps work (large file!) For Instructors and Students | Importance of Turing debate | For instructors | For students | Protagonist index | FAQS Commentary and Reviews | Commentary and reviews | Errata and corrections Action Items | Buy the set of maps | How you can participate in this debate Examples | View the maps. | Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 | Map 4 | Map 5 | Map 6 | Map 7 | (large files!) MacroVU home page | Send us a message | Project Director's Home Page It is clear from several angles that this debate is far from settled. We expect to release a second edition of Mapping Great Debates: Can Computers Think? some years hence. The opportunities for you to participate, therefore, are several, and your involvement is not only appreciated--it is critical. Opportunities for joining the debate at its frontiers do exist. The mapmakers, in fact, refrained from adding their own claims and arguments even in obvious areas, thus leaving the opportunity for you.
Two Ways To Participate
1. If we missed an argument: Please send a copy of the article or chapter that you believe deserves mention along with a completed copy of the New Claim/Rebuttal Participation Form.
2. If you are the author of a new, or newly published, argument: Send us your claim using the New Claim/Rebuttal Participation Form. A book of new arguments will be issued along with future editions of the maps.
Writers' Guidelines
Focus on stating your conclusion, in as straightforward and direct a manner as possible, using an example if possible. A conclusion and an example are often sufficient. Remember, the arguments are above all summaries and placeholders that refer the reader to your more detailed published texts.
It is not necessary to include all the details of your argument in the summary. However, if you can briefly state your argument using a bulleted or numbered list, please do so.
Write your argument with context in mind. Decide where on the maps (in which region, attached to which previous argument) it will be placed, and then write the summary with that context in mind. Pretend you are a reader, moving from one claim to the next along a thread, and fine-tune your claim accordingly.
If a similar argument exists earlier in the thread or elsewhere in a region, focus on what is new or unique about your argument. Don't be redundant. Push the conversation forward.
Too many qualifications dampen an argument. Take as strong a stance as possible.
If your argument involves a dilemma, a straw man, a red herring, a vicious circle, or any other common argumentative device, we probably have graphic conventions which can help you condense and visually represent your argument.
New Claim/Rebuttal Participation Form
Name Title Department Organization Address CityState ZipCountry Office Phone FaxE-Mail
I am submitting: a previously published argument that you missed (attach a copy of the published article). a new argument (attach a 34 page paper, double-spaced, setting forth the reasoning behind your argument).
Argument Title:
Argument Summary (34 sentences): My argument addresses claim number on map number
Optional: I have attached a sketch of an icon or illustration to accompany the argument. I agree that any submission by me may be used and copyrighted by the publisher. Signature ____________________________________ (Your signature needed for copyright purposes). Date
Mail completed form to: MacroVU, Inc., 321 High School Rd. NE-PMB 366, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.