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> So what he's doing is taking something people understand through experience (censorship in America) and drawing an analogy to something they don't understand,

> So what he's doing is taking something people understand through experience (censorship in America) and drawing an analogy to something they don't understand, because they've never experienced it (censorship in China), in order to use that analogy to make an argument about the thing people already understand. That's the opposite of a good explanation, where you take something that people don't understand and illustrate it by analogy with something they do understand. What experience would that be? The experience of being censored? The experience of censoring others? The experience of seeing stuff censored that you agree or disagree with? All these experiences bias people, making true understanding harder, which is why the analogy to the way censorship works in other countries is so useful. > Case in point, censorship in China isn't like censorship in America. Yes, in both cases removing a social media post requires the social media company in question to do the censoring. But Chinese companies do it because every time they try to censor less, the government steps in and shuts them down. https://www.whatsonweibo.com/tuber-app-that-promises-access-to-blocked-sites-in-china-is-now-blocked/ https://www.whatsonweibo.com/tuber-app-that-promises-access-... Your own link is an example of censorship by private companies in China - a social media platform and an app store.

yorwba 5y ago
> All these experiences bias people, making true understanding harder Do all experiences bias people in a way that makes true understanding harder? Meaning that true understanding can only exist in the absence of first-hand knowledge? Or is there a way to experience something in a way that furthers understanding? > which is why the analogy to the way censorship works in other countries is so useful. Is it useful? What is it that Americans understand about censorship in China that they can't understand about censorship in America? > Your own link is an example of censorship by private companies in China - a social media platform and an app store. Do you think those private companies made that decision without influence from the government? Admittedly, it's hard to get a direct statement from the government why something was taken down. E.g. when Zhao Lijian of the Foreign Ministry was asked about it, he just said that it wasn't a diplomatic issue, so he had no handle on the situation, and anyways the internet is managed according to law. http://by.china-embassy.org/chn/wjbzs/t1823326.htm http://by.china-embassy.org/chn/wjbzs/t1823326.htm
- amadeuspagel 5y ago
  > Do all experiences bias people in a way that makes true understanding harder? Meaning that true understanding can only exist in the absence of first-hand knowledge? Or is there a way to experience something in a way that furthers understanding? These are all very interesting philosophical questions. However, I'm not talking about all experiencies, I'm talking about specific experiences. If only some experiences bias people, an analogy to something that people have less experience with can be useful. > Is it useful? What is it that Americans understand about censorship in China that they can't understand about censorship in America? One thing that Americans understand about China, that they don't understand about the US, is that no private organization can be absolutely independent of the government, that the government has many subtle ways to pressure private organizations. This is especially true for profit-driven public companies. The only thing necessary to successfully pressure them is to make resistance more expensive then surrender. > Do you think those private companies made that decision without influence from the government? No. Not in the US, not in China.

yorwba 5y ago

> All these experiences bias people, making true understanding harder Do all experiences bias people in a way that makes true understanding harder? Meaning that true understanding can only exist in the absence of first-hand knowledge? Or is there a way to experience something in a way that furthers understanding? > which is why the analogy to the way censorship works in other countries is so useful. Is it useful? What is it that Americans understand about censorship in China that they can't understand about censorship in America? > Your own link is an example of censorship by private companies in China - a social media platform and an app store. Do you think those private companies made that decision without influence from the government? Admittedly, it's hard to get a direct statement from the government why something was taken down. E.g. when Zhao Lijian of the Foreign Ministry was asked about it, he just said that it wasn't a diplomatic issue, so he had no handle on the situation, and anyways the internet is managed according to law. http://by.china-embassy.org/chn/wjbzs/t1823326.htm http://by.china-embassy.org/chn/wjbzs/t1823326.htm

amadeuspagel 5y ago
> Do all experiences bias people in a way that makes true understanding harder? Meaning that true understanding can only exist in the absence of first-hand knowledge? Or is there a way to experience something in a way that furthers understanding? These are all very interesting philosophical questions. However, I'm not talking about all experiencies, I'm talking about specific experiences. If only some experiences bias people, an analogy to something that people have less experience with can be useful. > Is it useful? What is it that Americans understand about censorship in China that they can't understand about censorship in America? One thing that Americans understand about China, that they don't understand about the US, is that no private organization can be absolutely independent of the government, that the government has many subtle ways to pressure private organizations. This is especially true for profit-driven public companies. The only thing necessary to successfully pressure them is to make resistance more expensive then surrender. > Do you think those private companies made that decision without influence from the government? No. Not in the US, not in China.