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On one hand, devotion to authority is kind of what makes society possible. We all work, are cogs in the machine, and as a reward we all get a more or less dece
by Mikeb85 11y ago
On one hand, devotion to authority is kind of what makes society possible. We all work, are cogs in the machine, and as a reward we all get a more or less decent existence.
Of course, the downside is that when society is ill, or when our leaders are objectively wrong, we don't see it because we're used to just following authority, and can't see beyond our couches and screens.
- donatj 11y agoI have to believe we as creatures can work together willingly. Consensus and order can be brought by understanding and communication without without force of authority.
- Mikeb85 11y agoIt's not about the force of authority, but the willingness to defer authority to prevent having to be responsible for the consequences of our own decisions. If we go with popular consensus, we absolve ourselves of the guilt if anything goes wrong. "Going with the crowd" is a survival instinct. This isn't controversial. It's observable with both humans, and in the natural world (flocks of birds, schools of fish, herds of whatever, etc...).
- Aeolos 11y agoThere are people who derive pleasure from destroying things. On the internet you may call them trolls (from the harmless garden variety, to the people swatting, making death/rape threats) - depending on the variant, you may eject them from the community, shadowban them, call the police, etc. All of which are applications of force and authority. How do you deal with those people, when you go outside the safe confines of the internet, without using force or authority?