4 ms·

We can keep doing study after study but the kernel of all of this seems to be an inability of certain academics and tech industry titans to understand that not

We can keep doing study after study but the kernel of all of this seems to be an inability of certain academics and tech industry titans to understand that not everyone thinks alike them or holds the same values. There is an undercurrent in all of this confusion that if we can just control what others are and hear, we can make them believe the exact same things we believe. Afterall, we are right, they are wrong, so the error must be due to some contamination of their minds by dangerous content. Eliminate access to that content and all will be well. Banning wrong think from YouTube might be good for advertisers and Google's bottom line but it's not going to make thoughts that have been around since the dawn of humanity magically disappear.

pjc50 7y ago
> we are right, they are wrong Vaccines work; the safety risks are minimal; there is no reliable evidence that they cause autism and the primary proponent of the theory was eventually struck off for malpractice. Getting this wrong will cause the unnecessary suffering and death of small children. The earth is spherical, and this has been known since ancient times. Some things are not a matter of opinion.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ben_w 7y ago
  > The earth is spherical Well, close enough for most people. But I think the problem is that just trying to suppress dangerous untruths doesn’t seem to work in our society, and the greater the capacity to do so in other societies, the more that capacity is itself incredibly easy to abuse. I don’t have solutions for this. I wish I did, because I have no reason to think I might be immune to untruths.
- Torches66 7y ago
  Now do racial diversity.
  - pjc50 7y ago
    Do what with it? What's the question to which you might want a true/false value assigned?
    - Torches66 7y ago
      Some things are a matter of opinion. Even worse, some things seem objectively clear yet are censored by YouTube for wrong think. I suppose my point was that you've picked some very low-hanging fruit there (and even then I think the vaccines one is far more nuanced and complex than that, and the flat Earthers are ultimately harmless). Do racial diversity. Who is right and who is wrong? Why should those preaching the virtues of third-world immigration to the West be promoted on YouTube while those preaching the virtues of nationalism in the West are censored, demonetised, or banned?
wilde 7y ago
> There is an undercurrent in all of this confusion that if we can just control what others are and hear, we can make them believe the exact same things we believe. I mean, that’s how advertising works and most of these businesses are ads funded.

pjc50 7y ago

> we are right, they are wrong Vaccines work; the safety risks are minimal; there is no reliable evidence that they cause autism and the primary proponent of the theory was eventually struck off for malpractice. Getting this wrong will cause the unnecessary suffering and death of small children. The earth is spherical, and this has been known since ancient times. Some things are not a matter of opinion.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ben_w 7y ago
> The earth is spherical Well, close enough for most people. But I think the problem is that just trying to suppress dangerous untruths doesn’t seem to work in our society, and the greater the capacity to do so in other societies, the more that capacity is itself incredibly easy to abuse. I don’t have solutions for this. I wish I did, because I have no reason to think I might be immune to untruths.
Torches66 7y ago
Now do racial diversity.
- pjc50 7y ago
  Do what with it? What's the question to which you might want a true/false value assigned?
  - Torches66 7y ago
    Some things are a matter of opinion. Even worse, some things seem objectively clear yet are censored by YouTube for wrong think. I suppose my point was that you've picked some very low-hanging fruit there (and even then I think the vaccines one is far more nuanced and complex than that, and the flat Earthers are ultimately harmless). Do racial diversity. Who is right and who is wrong? Why should those preaching the virtues of third-world immigration to the West be promoted on YouTube while those preaching the virtues of nationalism in the West are censored, demonetised, or banned?

wilde 7y ago

> There is an undercurrent in all of this confusion that if we can just control what others are and hear, we can make them believe the exact same things we believe. I mean, that’s how advertising works and most of these businesses are ads funded.