The Dawn Treader

A Pigfest proposition must fall in the area of theology, politics, economics, philosophy, history or culture.  It is a statement of something you believe to be true.

A good proposition has the following qualities.

One, it is clear.   Everyone must understand what you are claiming to be true.  If they don't, you will chew up your valuable 15 minutes answering questions about what you mean instead of persuading others.  Keep the proposition simple.  Put the cookies on the lowest shelf.  Avoid weasel words (squishy words that can mean lots of different things).

Two, it is interesting.  Be others oriented in your proposition.  Think about your audience and what interests them.  Make your proposition as relevant to your audience as possible.  People must be able to connect with your idea if it is going to gain traction at the Pigfest.  If you get too esoteric with your topic, you will put them to sleep.

Three, it contains action.  The best propositions are ones that can be acted on.  That is, there is a way for people to respond to your argument.  While there is value in simply exchanging ideas, you want to have the Pigfest move people toward purposeful action.  Ben Franklin's Pigfest (the Junto Society) started the first library, the first public hospital, the first volunteer fire department and so on.  Their ideas led to action.

Four, it can be defended.  You need to offer a compelling rationale for why we should accept your view.  You will need to be pithy, of course, but you must offer at least some justification for your view.  Use scripture.  Use natural law.  Use statistics.  Use logic.  Give some sort of rationale to strengthen your appeal.

Five, it should be tested ahead of time.  Don't wait for the Pigfest to try out your proposition.  Work on it before you get there.  Involve others.  Give it a test drive.  Refine it.

We live in a society that has little practice at critical thinking.  Most of the people who come to your Pigfest will not have a clue how to form a crisp proposition.  They will need help.  Offer it.  Ask them ahead of time what their idea is.  Give them feedback on it.  Coach them.

The most common error is the bloated proposition.  It is too wordy.  The remedy is to simplify and narrow down the topic.  Make it focused.  Tighten it.  Refine it.  Be able to state it in a single sentence that does not require you to take a deep breath before you utter it.

A second common error is the non-proposition.  Some people come and bring a question instead of a proposition to the Pigfest.  This doesn't work.  The group spends the 15 minutes conjecturing and the discussion rambles.

A third common error is the esoteric proposition.  That is, not enough people have thought about it to offer their opinion.  They really don't know what to think, so they say nothing.

A fourth common error is the wing it proposition.  The person usually starts with something like, "I'm not really sure how to express this, but ... ".  It quickly becomes clear that they have not thought long enough about their proposition ahead of time.  Now you have your work cut out.  You will use two-thirds of your time wordsmithing and articulating the proposition.

One last word about propositions.  Don't wait till the last minute to form one.  It is really hard.  A better idea is to jot them down as you think about them during the week.  Write down the thought when it hits you.  Don't worry about editing and wordsmithing.  Just get it down on paper and then work it over in your mind.

As an example, the notion of cameras in the classroom came up recently in conversation.  I personally like the idea of video taping classrooms and making them available to parents and adminstrators.  I think behavior will improve and teaching will improve.  I don't have my proposition worked out yet.  I can't reduce it to a simple sentence.  But I am working on it.  By the next Pigfest, I'll be ready.