In policy debate

Policy debate

Policy debate is a form of speech competition in which teams of two advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government or security discourse...

, impact calculus is a type of argumentation which seeks to compare the impacts presented by both teams.

Basic impact calculus

There are three basic types of impact calculus that compare the impacts of the plan to the impacts of a disadvantage:
Probability (one impact is more likely)

e.g. Economic collapse is more probable than an outbreak of grey goo

Grey goo

Grey goo is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all matter on Earth while building more of themselves, a scenario known as ecophagy .Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally...

, therefore the risk of economic collapse outweighs the risk of a grey goo disaster.

Timeframe (one impact will happen faster)

e.g. An asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

 impact will cause extinction before Global warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

 will, therefore an asteroid impact outweighs Global Warming.

Magnitude (one impact is bigger)

e.g. Nuclear war kills more people than car accidents.

Other types of impact calculus

Some other more sophisticated arguments are also considered impact calculus:
Impact inclusivity (one impact is inclusive of the other)

e.g. Global war is inclusive of a Taiwan war, therefore global war outweighs Taiwan war.

X creates Y (one impact causes the other impact to happen)

e.g. War causes genocide, therefore war outweighs genocide

Internal link shortcircuiting (one impact prevents a (positive) impact from happening)

e.g. Nuclear war halts space colonization, therefore nuclear war outweighs space colonization

Reversibility

e.g. Civil liberties lost in the name of security during a time of crisis can be restored later, but deaths caused by a lack of security are irreversible.

Framework arguments can also be considered impact calculus. Arguments as to why the judge

Judge (policy debate)

A judge refers to the individual responsible for determining the winner and loser of a policy debate as well as assessing the relative merit of the participant speakers...

 should adopt a utilitarian

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...

 or consequentialist

Consequentialism

Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness of that conduct...

 perspective or conversely a deontological perspective may change the way they compare impacts.

Impact calculus and "new" arguments

Basic impact calculus arguments may be made at any time and are generally not considered "new" arguments, even if brought up for the first time in the 2NR or 2AR

Structure of policy debate

In all forms of policy debate the order of speeches is as follows:*First Affirmative Constructive *Cross-examination of First Affirmative by Second Negative*First Negative Constructive *Cross-examination of First Negative by First Affirmative...

. More sophisticated forms of impact calculus should generally be brought up earlier in the debate and evidenced if possible.