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Show HN: I built a platform where audiences fund debates between public thinkers (logosive.com)

42 points by mcastle ↗ HN
Hey HN, I built Logosive because I want to see certain debates between my favorite thinkers (especially in health/wellness, tech, and public policy), but there's no way for regular people to make these happen.

With Logosive, you propose a debate topic and debaters. We then handle outreach, ticket sales, and logistics. After the debate, ticket revenue is split between everyone involved, including the person that proposed the debate, the debaters, and the host.

Logosive is built with Django, htmx, and Alpine.js. Claude generates the debate launch pages, including suggesting debaters or debate topics, all from a single prompt (but the debates happen between real debaters).

I’m now looking for help launching new debates, so if you have any topics or people you really want to see debate, please submit them at https://logosive.com.

Thanks!

14 comments

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Aurornis
The debates use famous names to get your attention, but when I click on the details of each debate it says "Pending" next to those famous names. Apparently none of these people have agreed to debate or possibly even know tickets are being sold to their debate.

Selling (even pre-selling) tickets to debates between people who haven't agreed to participate in your debate is insanely misleading marketing.

analog31
I don't want to discourage this idea, but I have to admit that I've lost interest in debates. It seems like a debate is not a search for the truth, but a form of public entertainment to see who wins. I wouldn't change my views based on the outcome of a debate.

Then again I may be biased because I'm a terrible debater. On the other hand, my mom used to show off her debate medals from high school.

loughnane
Most public debates aren't a matter of truth seeking, and haven't been for a long time (two examples below). Rather, it's a platform for people to make their case to the audience.

That said, the level of respect and orderliness of the debates below is something I'd like to see more of.

* Russell v. Copleston on God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMsbD1L5IlQ

* Buckley v. Baldwin on if the american dream is at the expense of the american negro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%E2%80%93Buckley_debate

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techgnosis
I like this idea but I fear the population, in the US at least, is not able to process something like a debate effectively. Any given debate, if won decisively enough, could shutdown any discussion on the topic for a long time. Imagine if you got Jordan Peterson and he absolutely shut-down someone else. I don't think the audience will accept the idea that the other person may have just been a bad debater, or that the ideas that they debated still have merit. It would effectively end the discussion.

People love winners, not ideas. It's just more us-vs-them. Especially because the US population only ever sees the word "debate" when it comes to a political debate on a stage, and those are not debates.

Again, I love this idea in theory but I fear it's time has come and gone already.

Garlef
I'd drop the AI part... Not sure why this is part of the platform.
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gruez
There are already organizations like Open to Debate and The Munk Debates organizing and publishing debates. What are you doing differently than them, aside from allowing users to suggest topics and giving them a cut? I feel like coming up with topics is probably the easiest part of the process. All you need is a vague pulse on what's in the news cycle, or ask a LLM.
Killakwinn
Is it biotech or is it techbio!!!!!
paltman
Great work! Love the concept and implementation!
etavgac3
great idea, and there are many potential pathways for where this can go so excited to see Logosive develop. The key will be seeding the platform with some interesting debates that aren't necessarily part of the mainstream conversation (either topics that aren't getting enough attention, or debate participants that otherwise aren't being matched up against one another). Feel this is the perfect moment in time for this platform.