2026-27 resolution
Resolved: Technological progress has surpassed humanity's ability to use it ethically. Announced by the NSDA on August 1, 2026, with 74 percent of the coach vote and 57 percent of the student vote over the alternative (that scientific truth is more valuable than philosophical truth). Confirm at speechanddebate.org/topics.
The format
Big Questions can be debated one-on-one or two-on-two. Each side has three minutes of prep time.
| Speech | Time |
|---|---|
| Affirmative constructive | 5 min |
| Negative constructive | 5 min |
| Question segment | 3 min |
| Affirmative rebuttal | 4 min |
| Negative rebuttal | 4 min |
| Question segment | 3 min |
| Affirmative consolidation | 3 min |
| Negative consolidation | 3 min |
| Affirmative rationale | 3 min |
| Negative rationale | 3 min |
Consolidation narrows the round to the arguments that matter. Rationale is the final speech: why the judge should vote your way, in plain language. Confirm the current rules with the NSDA before your first tournament; the format has been revised in past seasons.
What "surpassed" asks you to prove
The word does most of the work in this resolution. The affirmative must show that the gap between what technology can do and what humans can handle ethically is a present fact, not a future risk. The negative can argue that humanity has always caught up (printing, nuclear weapons, medicine), that ethical capacity is growing alongside technology, or that the resolution misdescribes the relationship: technology is a product of human ethics, not a rival to it.
Affirmative ground
- Speed. New capabilities arrive faster than norms, laws, or institutions can respond. Use concrete cases: generative AI, gene editing, surveillance, autonomous weapons.
- Scale. Individual ethical judgment cannot govern systems that affect billions of people at once.
- Evidence of misuse. Documented harms that occurred because capability outran judgment, with sources.
Negative ground
- History. Every major technology produced a lag and then an ethical response: safety regulation, arms control, medical ethics boards. Lag is not surpassing.
- Definition. "Humanity's ability" is collective and includes institutions. Measured that way, the ability is expanding.
- Burden. The affirmative must prove a general claim about all technology; a few bad cases do not prove it.
How evidence works here
Big Questions rewards clear reasoning supported by examples and named thinkers. You can cite philosophers, historians, and scientists, and you should, but a judge will vote on whether your argument follows, not on how many cards you read. Define your terms in the constructive, give the judge a standard for deciding the round, and return to that standard in every speech.
A practice plan
- Write a one-paragraph definition of each key term: technological progress, ethical use, surpassed, humanity's ability.
- List five historical cases on each side and learn the facts of each well enough to survive questioning.
- Practice the question segments with a partner; three minutes of questions is longer than it sounds.
- Practice the rationale speech alone, repeatedly. It is where rounds are won.
Related guides: Value and criterion in Lincoln-Douglas covers the same framework skills, and How to flow applies directly.
Sources
- National Speech & Debate Association, Topics page, Big Questions 2026-2027 result: speechanddebate.org/topics.
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