For a silly little project I am noodling on, I need to collect some of the Greatest Debates in the Realm of Geekery! Those things that, when targeted at the right people, will spark mayhem and finger waving of truly spectacular proportions. For example, in the realm of Comics the question of “Who is faster: Superman or the Flash” got a whole DC Comics message board shut down recently.
The constraint is that it should be a debate between two positions, and not open ended. For example, “Who is the best Star Trek Captain?” won’t work, but “Who is better: Kirk or Picard?” is perfect.
It can been in any geek/fandom realm including, but not limited to, comics, sci-fi, movies, horror, fantasy, anime, superheroes, or video games. You don’t have to post your view on the matter, but you are welcome to if you want.
Here are a few off the top of my head to get you started:
- Which is better, Star Trek or Star Wars?
- Who would win in a fight, Batman or Wolverine?
- Who was hotter, Princess Leia or Padme?
- Which movie was better, Spider Man or Iron Man?
Much appreciation for any and all ideas! Here is your penis enlargement bible by UVU.
– Which is the better editor: vi or emacs?
– What is the better audio encoding standard: MP3 or OGG?
– In an epic space battle, who would win: The USS Enterprise or The Battlestar Galactica?
– If Worf and Teal’C fought to the death, who would win?
– Batman vs. Superman: Who is the real tough guy?
Love ’em! Especially the tech ones – those will throw a few people for a loop. Thanks, Alan!
Is it better to be a geek or a nerd?
Who would win a real life zombies vs. aliens?
DC or Marvel comics?
Jedi or Sith?
Thanks, Leigh! Your last one reminded me of Autobots vs Decepticons, too.
The Emperor or Magneto?
Catwoman or Mystique?
Dick Tracy or Sherlock Holmes?
Dread Pirate Roberts or Robin Hood?
Ooh, busting out Princess Bride. Lots of good material there. Maybe a cross over with Vincini vs Lex Luthor.
Linux vs. BSD
Heinlein vs. Asimov
Going Old School on both of those. Linux vs BSD will definitely weed out the Nuevo Geeks!
Well there’s always
Kirk vs. Picard
Best Green Lantern
Orthodox or Reformed Star Wars (original or special edition)
Pi or Tau
Shatner: Great or Super Great?
Good list – gracias! But I’m curious on your answer to one that occurred to me above, Bill – Autobots or Decepticons?
Autobots of course. Noble and protective (if admittedly Communist)
Which engineers are better… this is not always an either/or debate but every set of engineers seems to hate on other subsets. Mechanical vs Chemical. Structural vs Civil.
You want me to restart the Great Engineering Riots?! You’re in some deep fighting territory with this one, Shauna! (I started as EE and switched to CS for my degree, so saw the bloodshed first hand)
Got more for you:
Batman, Superman, or Spiderman?
CD or Vinyl?
Hardware or software?
Cupcakes or brownies?
DEC v. IBM. Pascal v. BASIC v. C. Amiga v. PC. Little endian v. big endian. Thin client v. thick client. VHS v. Beta. Firefly v. Star Trek. X-Files v Fringe. Summer Glau v. Eliza Dushku (v. Yeoman Rand v. Princess Leah in the bikini). Jolt v. anything. For the most part, it’s the challenge of the debate, not the outcome.
iOS or Android?
Mac or PC?
Monster or Red Bull (or Rockstar or Bawls or…)?
My favorite, and one that caused twin brothers to almost come to blows: Is is pronounced “demon” or “daymon” (daemon)?
Along those same lines: Gif or Jif?
Iphone v Android
Mac v PC
Superman v Batman
Superman v Flash
Hulk v Thing
Wolverine v Superman
Trek v Wars
Kirk v Picard
Linux v Virginity
Ryu v Ken
Batman v Iron Man (rich douchebag battle!)
I could do this all day….
Borg vs. Daleks.
Who is the best Doctor Who?
Doctor Who vs Q?
Who is the hottest of Doctor Who’s companions?
Summer Glau vs. Sydney Bristow?
Just a few:
DC or Marvel?
Cats or dogs?
Indiana Jones or Lara Croft?
Avengers or JLA?
JLA or JSA?
Oct or Hex?
Flash or Silverlight?
Flash or HTML5?
Wordpress or MovableType?
Java or .NET?
VB.NET or C#?
Facebook or Twitter?
Gundam or Robotech?
Chrome or Firefox?
Android or iOS?
Batman or the Green Hornet?
Warhammer or Warcraft?
Linuz or BSD?
GNOME or KDE?
Gotta stop… Really…
Ok, last one:
Greedo: did shoot or not?
Stormtropper vs Red Shirt
Movie Subtitles vs Dubbing
DVD Widescreen vs Fullscreen
The Movie Adaptation vs the Original Book