A 'sham marriage' is a marriage between a gay man and a lesbian woman for the purposes of creating the appearance of being straight and evading the social stigmas of being gay or being 'left on the shelf'. They are particularly common in China.

A 'sham marriage' is a marriage between a gay man and a lesbian woman for the purposes of creating the appearance of being straight and evading the social stigmas of being gay or being 'left on the shelf'. They are particularly common in China.

There is a technology that can definitively confirm the existence of human spirits in our mortal world. As explained by the technology's creator, people that pass on from their mortal life continue to exist as spirits that humans cannot see, touch, or interact with. However, the spirits can see us and move non-human objects in the mortal world. For the purpose of the debate, the outcome of the technology's reading will be taken as true by everyone.

Context: Recently, many major university debate tournaments have attempted to bring forth motions relating to idioms of different cultures. Notable examples include debates about the "Ubuntu narrative" ("I am because we are") in the WUDC 2023 Finals and the "Mbokodo narrative" (women are as solid and untouchable as rocks) in the Uhuru Worlds 2021 Semi Finals.

Severance is a process that allows employees to separate their work-related memories from their personal memories. This is achieved through a cognitive process that selectively "splits" memories, so that memories created during work hours are not accessible outside of work, and vice versa. It is important to note that the process of Severance is voluntary, and employees have the choice to opt-in or opt-out of the process. As for drawbacks, some people may find that the process of severance may cause confusion or disorientation, especially if the individual is not aware of what they are forgetting.

A starving artist is an artist who sacrifices material well-being in order to focus on their artwork. They typically live on minimum expenses, either for a lack of business or because all their disposable income goes toward art projects.

Freedom Pineapples was a Taiwanese sociopolitical movement in 2021 responding to Mainland China's ban on Taiwanese pineapples, which comprised of 97% of Taiwan's pineapple exports. Even though the movement rallied domestic and foreign support to offset the embargo's economic deficit, Taiwan's pineapple exports still dropped 55% compared to it in 2019. Back track to the start of the embargo. You are a Taiwanese pineapple farmer.

For the purposes of this debate, there exists a safe technology which can accurately simulate the experience of being in prison. A person within the simulation will experience the simulation as fully real, including time passing slowly as in "real life", while not interacting with others in the "real world". In reality, even a long sentence in the simulation will be done in a matter of days.

Usually used in psychiatric treatment, a Ulysses Contract is a legal agreement designed to override a present request from a patient in favor of a past request made by that patient. For instance, a schizophrenic patient forcing their future self to take medication at times of perceived remission.

Many universities implement an "Open Curriculum", whereby students can decide the courses they want to take without complying to broader course requirements. For instance, a student that attends a university with an open curriculum can choose to take on all humanities or STEM courses without worrying about meeting academic requirements for credits needed per subject to graduate.

For the purpose of this debate, Confucianism refers to a teaching philosophy characterized by extensive emphasis on collective values and upholding societal institutions like that of family and the state. It can be juxtaposed to other types of educational philosophies, like one that emphasizes individualism.