The archive
Worth an argument.
Every question, both cases and the readers’ verdict. Votes measure which argument readers found convincing, not whether it is true.
Culture · Open for your vote
Australia's minimum age law for social media took effect on 10 December 2025, and other countries are now deciding whether to follow. Jon Haidt and Ravi Iyer argue that every country should set the age at 16 with no parental-consent loophole, because a rule that applies to everyone is the only way out of the 'everyone else has one' trap. Lisa M. Given, an information sciences professor at RMIT University, looks at how the ban has worked in its first months and argues that bans are not the answer. Both want children safer online. They disagree on whether an age ban is the way to get there. Haidt and Iyer wrote in January 2026, before the early Australian data; Given wrote in June 2026. Read both cases, then vote for the argument you find more convincing.
AI & Automation · Open for your vote
Since ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, graduates have been told the bottom rungs of the career ladder are disappearing. Some data supports that. Some says it is too early to tell. Derek Thompson reads new Stanford payroll research as the strongest evidence yet that AI is already squeezing 22 to 25 year olds in exposed jobs such as software development and customer service. Economists at the Yale Budget Lab look at the whole US labour market and find no discernible disruption so far. Both pieces use US data and both take the evidence seriously. The disagreement is about which data answers the question, and how much weight early signals deserve. Read both cases, then vote for the argument you find more convincing, even if you dislike its conclusion.