Crisis Committees and Flash Debates

February 5, 2026

Firebird MUN is next week, so we started with some updates about the conference. Then we split into two groups: those going to Firebird, and those who aren't.

Crisis committees (Firebird group)

Firebird uses crisis committees, which we first went over last class. A lot of people were still confused, so we went over them again to make sure everyone feels really solid.

Much of it is similar to a normal committee, but there are a few big differences:

Directives: instead of long resolutions, the committee writes short directives that take action right away.
Crisis notes: you also write your own notes to the crisis staff, telling them what your character does behind the scenes.

We spent most of the time practicing crisis notes. A good crisis note is specific (exactly what you're doing, with what, and how) and realistic (something your person could actually pull off).

Flash debates (everyone else)

Two students debating at the front of the classroom during a flash debate, with a timer on the screen

Everyone else did flash debates. They got to choose between:

30-second rebuttals with no research, or
45-second rebuttals with about 2 minutes of prep.

They chose the first one, which I thought was interesting. No research forces you to think on your feet, even if your information isn't as solid.

The main topic was: Should there be regulation on AI development? A few hints for each side:

For regulation: companies are incentivized to move quickly rather than safely. It's like a nuclear arms race: the faster you go, the less careful you can be.
Against regulation: look into effective accelerationism. Development can happen in secret, so if we regulate AI, won't foreign adversaries just keep building it without us knowing?

We also brought cookies, and anyone who did a really good job got one at the end of class.