4 ms·

One of my guilty pleasures is finding someone on the web saying something foolish and engaging them in debate. Rather than cancel these guys, wouldn't it be be

One of my guilty pleasures is finding someone on the web saying something foolish and engaging them in debate. Rather than cancel these guys, wouldn't it be better to have a few well-prepared opponents attend and do the same? (Isn't that how science is supposed to work?)

xenadu02 7y ago
This is just conservatives trying to subvert the free market. There is no such thing as "cancel culture". People have always avoided doing business with people they find objectionable. The world has always worked that way. Conservatives are trying to suppress the ability to freely associate and choose whom you do business with because they don't want to suffer any consequences for their behavior or beliefs - also something that has never existed in the history of the world.
qqqwerty 7y ago
Debates can make for great entertainment, but are a poor forum for establishing truth and fact. Case in point, the 'cancel culture' argument is designed to shift the debate away from the science and instead focuses the debate on the 'character' of the scientists. So instead of arguing about the facts of climate change (which at this point are hard to refute), we are arguing about whether its okay for scientists to try and boycott right wing conferences. That debate is a little more complicated and nuanced, enough so that the right leaning audience can walk away feeling like they have some ground to stand on. The point isn't to prove that climate change doesn't exist. It is to merely sow enough doubt in the minds of enough people to keep climate change action out of reach for the politicians.
- downerending 7y ago
  It's not the kind of evidence I prefer, but people who concentrate on ad hominem attacks do effectively provide evidence in favor of their targets' position.

4 ms·

One of my guilty pleasures is finding someone on the web saying something foolish and engaging them in debate. Rather than cancel these guys, wouldn't it be be

by downerending 7y ago

xenadu02 7y ago
This is just conservatives trying to subvert the free market. There is no such thing as "cancel culture". People have always avoided doing business with people they find objectionable. The world has always worked that way. Conservatives are trying to suppress the ability to freely associate and choose whom you do business with because they don't want to suffer any consequences for their behavior or beliefs - also something that has never existed in the history of the world.
qqqwerty 7y ago
Debates can make for great entertainment, but are a poor forum for establishing truth and fact. Case in point, the 'cancel culture' argument is designed to shift the debate away from the science and instead focuses the debate on the 'character' of the scientists. So instead of arguing about the facts of climate change (which at this point are hard to refute), we are arguing about whether its okay for scientists to try and boycott right wing conferences. That debate is a little more complicated and nuanced, enough so that the right leaning audience can walk away feeling like they have some ground to stand on. The point isn't to prove that climate change doesn't exist. It is to merely sow enough doubt in the minds of enough people to keep climate change action out of reach for the politicians.
- downerending 7y ago
  It's not the kind of evidence I prefer, but people who concentrate on ad hominem attacks do effectively provide evidence in favor of their targets' position.