Good point. I think, though, that even in the academia there is too much focus on oral communication. It's often easier to get away with vague ideas in seminars (if you're confident and respected) than in written communication. Of course there is a place for talks and debates in the academia but I think what I'm pointing to is too often neglected. So what you say holds true of academic oral discussions as well, though to a lesser degree. For this reason I've sometimes played with the idea of replacing the seminars with online written texts on chats or fora. I think, though, that most academics would find that less fun - for much the same reasons people would find written political debates less fun. People are very social and like to interact irl, and see others interact irl.
See this Newsroom clip.
Basically, their news network is trying to change the way political debates work by having the moderator force the candidates to answer the questions that are asked of them, not interrupt each other, justify arguments that are based on obvious falsehoods etc.
How big of a positive impact do you guys think that this would have on society?
My initial thoughts are that it would be huge. It would lead to better politicians, which would be a high level of action. The positive effects would trickle down into many aspects of our society.
The question then becomes, "can we make this happen?". I don't see a way right now, but the idea has enough upside to me that I keep it in the back of my mind in case I come up with a plausible way of implementing the change.
Thoughts?