The Eru Iluvatar is recently created machine which can be used on one animal at a time, to elevate its cognitive abilities to human-level sapience. The process permanently changes the animal, giving it reasoning, language, self-awareness, complex communication, and the ability to understand abstract concepts such as morality, identity, and purpose.

In Calvinism, the doctrine of predestination holds that God determines each person's fate at the moment of creation, with humanity separated into two groups: the elect, whom God has predestined for Heaven, and the reprobate, whom God has predestined for eternal punishment in Hell. 

The elect are understood to live pious and virtuous lives, while the reprobate live sinful lives. It is believed that these behaviours are consequences of God's prior determination of their fate.

For the purposes of this debate, you are a 20-year-old who was raised in a Calvinist family and is entirely convinced of the doctrine of predestination. You do not know whether you are among the elect or the reprobate.

The 2026 Israel-Lebanon Trilateral Framework is a proposed security arrangement involving Israel, Lebanon, and the United States aimed at reducing tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border. The framework seeks to increase the role of the Lebanese Armed Forces in southern Lebanon through ‘Pilot Zones’, where Lebanese forces would gradually take responsibility for security and monitoring. The disarmament of non-state actors in designated southern ‘Pilot Zones’ serves as the core condition for a phased, conditional Israeli military withdrawal and the restoration of state authority. The framework also includes mechanisms for coordination and oversight designed to reduce military activity by actors outside the Lebanese state.

Presentism is the practice of applying contemporary moral standards when judging the past. Temporal relativism is the practice of applying the moral standards of the relevant historical period when judging the past.

For the purpose of this debate, 'Feminist Exceptionalism' is the belief that women should strive to be extraordinary, high-achieving, or break glass ceilings.

Pakatan Harapan is a reformist, multiracial coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, serving as the largest constituent of the current unity government. It focuses heavily on progressive governance and anti-corruption. However, it faces intense pressure from voters over inflation and economic reforms. Barisan Nasional is the traditional, Malay-nationalist coalition, that ruled Malaysia for 60 years until 2018. Led by UMNO, it acts as a complex partner in the federal unity government with Pakatan Harapan. It frequently clashes with Pakatan Harapan locally, to regain its lost voter base. Perikatan Nasional is the more conservative, Malay-Muslim opposition coalition, anchored by Bersatu and the Islamist party PAS. It rides a powerful wave of conservative voter sentiment. This makes it the primary threat to the current government in rural and Malay-majority areas.

An agricultural-industrial dual economy is one in which a large, traditional, labour-intensive agricultural sector, exists alongside a substantially more productive, capital-intensive, industrial sector. Examples include India and Nigeria. Governments in these countries often employ policies to keep consumer food prices low (e.g., removing tariffs on agricultural imports, restricting agricultural exports) or to increase farm-gate prices (e.g., high agricultural tariffs, import quotas, guaranteed government purchasing).

Stock indexes (e.g., S&P500 and Dow Jones) traditionally impose certain requirements on firms before they can be included in an index, even if they are sufficiently large enough to qualify. These requirements might include profitability, liquidity, length of time as a public company, and governance structure. Some indexes have suggested relaxing some or all of these requirements to allow for faster entry of large technology companies that have or will soon have Initial Public Offerings (e.g., SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

Digital adaptation means using modern technology to present Vietnam’s cultural heritage. Examples include 3D scanning, virtual reality, digitising water puppet shows, digital archives, and virtual tours of historical sites such as Huế. These techniques can be used to recreate historical buildings, artworks, or cultural objects in a modern digital form.

Historical preservation means protecting Vietnam’s historical and cultural heritage for future generations. Examples include restoring Hội An, conserving Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, protecting traditional artworks, preserving Vietnamese art techniques and maintaining historical buildings in Huế.