4 ms·

We live in an increasingly-authoritarian society where most people are unable to describe or reason with simple concepts put forth dozens of decades ago. These

We live in an increasingly-authoritarian society where most people are unable to describe or reason with simple concepts put forth dozens of decades ago. These two things are not accidentally correlated.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago
I think it's deeper than that. It's not just that people can't reason with those concepts. It's that people don't want to restrain their own behavior. Say I want to play my music loud at 4 AM. I'm probably not going to reason about other peoples' rights limiting mine, or whatever - not because I can't, but because I don't want to. I just want to crank up my music and rock out, I can't be bothered with philosophy right now. But I fear that, if people will not restrain their own behavior, the only alternatives left are authoritarianism and chaos. And most people, after a taste of chaos, seem to prefer authoritarianism.
- natmaka 6y ago
  Isn't it proportional to the population size and density? In a small human group anonymity isn't really a factor, therefore most want to restrain themselves in order to avoid annoying known people, moreover when someone fails at it more often than not a third party knowing both the annoyed and the culprit tries (peacefuly) to restore peace. When we need authoritarianism, something is too big.
  - jones1618 6y ago
    Good point. Anonymity is good for some things, bad for others. Likewise, though, talk to anybody from a small town and they'll complain about the "tyranny" of everybody knowing who you are, who your family is, and where you live. So, there's a sweet spot somewhere between perfect freedom/privacy and perfect accountability/justice. It shouldn't take authoritarianism to sort out but we need to fight hard for the right balance of norms and laws to adapt to changing technology. Should my neighbor be allowed to fly a drone at the level of my daughter's bedroom window? Is it acceptable to record my every move and identify my face in a private shopping mall?

AnimalMuppet 6y ago

I think it's deeper than that. It's not just that people can't reason with those concepts. It's that people don't want to restrain their own behavior. Say I want to play my music loud at 4 AM. I'm probably not going to reason about other peoples' rights limiting mine, or whatever - not because I can't, but because I don't want to. I just want to crank up my music and rock out, I can't be bothered with philosophy right now. But I fear that, if people will not restrain their own behavior, the only alternatives left are authoritarianism and chaos. And most people, after a taste of chaos, seem to prefer authoritarianism.

natmaka 6y ago
Isn't it proportional to the population size and density? In a small human group anonymity isn't really a factor, therefore most want to restrain themselves in order to avoid annoying known people, moreover when someone fails at it more often than not a third party knowing both the annoyed and the culprit tries (peacefuly) to restore peace. When we need authoritarianism, something is too big.
- jones1618 6y ago
  Good point. Anonymity is good for some things, bad for others. Likewise, though, talk to anybody from a small town and they'll complain about the "tyranny" of everybody knowing who you are, who your family is, and where you live. So, there's a sweet spot somewhere between perfect freedom/privacy and perfect accountability/justice. It shouldn't take authoritarianism to sort out but we need to fight hard for the right balance of norms and laws to adapt to changing technology. Should my neighbor be allowed to fly a drone at the level of my daughter's bedroom window? Is it acceptable to record my every move and identify my face in a private shopping mall?