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This is the paradox of tolerance. We can say that unhindered speech is the way of countering harmful speech, but then I ask you: What led to the rise of such ha

This is the paradox of tolerance. We can say that unhindered speech is the way of countering harmful speech, but then I ask you: What led to the rise of such harmful speech today? You point at anti-science conspiracy theories as a failing of free speech, and you're probably right, but what would you have us do otherwise? A world in which some central authority dictates that certain opinions are never allowed to be expressed, to me, seems like an absolutely horrible place to live, even if it meant that antivaxxers couldn't spread their crap anymore. Furthermore, there is no such thing as a perfect political system. It's not enough to point at what free speech fails at, you also need to suggest what we should be doing instead, and how the failings of that system wouldn't be worse. It's a pretty good comparison to democracy, in my mind. It's the worst system ever invented, except for all of the other ones we've tried.

fzeroracer 8y ago
You live in that world right now. We have a central authority that says 'you're not allowed to call black people certain words'. I always ask this but do you believe that was a mistake? Do you think people have that specific right to exercise their freedom of speech? Obviously there are degrees of harm to speech. We've already collectively determined this as a society. And to me, anti-vaxxers are a great example. We arrest anti-vaxxers if their children suffer due to child abuse. Do you believe that to be a mistake, that they don't have the right to exercise their own beliefs?
- Karunamon 8y ago
  What central authority would that be? Because I'm pretty sure I can find speech along those line on the top five sites on the internet with little effort. I always ask this but do you believe that was a mistake? Do you think people have that specific right to exercise their freedom of speech? I think I'm unclear on what you're asking, but as an American who sees a great deal of value in that approach, and seeing the fruits of the opposite approach (my go-to example being the UK, where libel laws are significantly more open for abuse), then, yes, I do think people have that specific right - on the level of human rights, even. Do you believe that to be a mistake, that they don't have the right to exercise their own beliefs? That is a different question - speech and action are two different things.
- tomp 8y ago
  > you're not allowed to call black people certain words' It’s actually much worse, the restriction itself is highly racist; only blacks are allowed to use the “n-word”, while whites (and other races I presume) aren’t.

fzeroracer 8y ago

You live in that world right now. We have a central authority that says 'you're not allowed to call black people certain words'. I always ask this but do you believe that was a mistake? Do you think people have that specific right to exercise their freedom of speech? Obviously there are degrees of harm to speech. We've already collectively determined this as a society. And to me, anti-vaxxers are a great example. We arrest anti-vaxxers if their children suffer due to child abuse. Do you believe that to be a mistake, that they don't have the right to exercise their own beliefs?

Karunamon 8y ago
What central authority would that be? Because I'm pretty sure I can find speech along those line on the top five sites on the internet with little effort. I always ask this but do you believe that was a mistake? Do you think people have that specific right to exercise their freedom of speech? I think I'm unclear on what you're asking, but as an American who sees a great deal of value in that approach, and seeing the fruits of the opposite approach (my go-to example being the UK, where libel laws are significantly more open for abuse), then, yes, I do think people have that specific right - on the level of human rights, even. Do you believe that to be a mistake, that they don't have the right to exercise their own beliefs? That is a different question - speech and action are two different things.
tomp 8y ago
> you're not allowed to call black people certain words' It’s actually much worse, the restriction itself is highly racist; only blacks are allowed to use the “n-word”, while whites (and other races I presume) aren’t.