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> The most important thing is to be able to think what you want, not to say what you want. [...] Draw a sharp line between your thoughts and your speech While
by Udik 6y ago
> The most important thing is to be able to think what you want, not to say what you want. [...] Draw a sharp line between your thoughts and your speech
While this is wise life advice, it's also an invitation to hypocrisy. A collective hypocrisy in which everyone might think one way and speak another. And sometimes this will have consequences: will you defend from public lynching the one who said what everybody thinks? Will you betray yourself when you thought you were in a safe context, only for your words to be reported and used against you?
- chrisco255 6y agoGenerally, the number of people that will stand up to a crowd or a mob and hold their own is dismally small. It goes against your own raw survival instincts to be accepted by the tribe (we are social creatures by nature) and sets your body into fight mode. I think pg is off on this particular essay. You may want to pick your battles, but you still have to have battles to win the war. You can't hide in your basement. You can't risk nothing.