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The Nazis rationalized their actions in their own eyes. To them, they thought they were doing the right thing. So it doesn't matter how right you think you are

The Nazis rationalized their actions in their own eyes. To them, they thought they were doing the right thing. So it doesn't matter how right you think you are if you're manipulating people's emotions in the same ways to end up in a similar place. No, it's not different this time. Australia is already denying people their rights for their own good and putting them in a fancy prison, not for some obvious harm they did, but for something they might have.

ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
> The Nazis rationalized their actions in their own eyes. To them, they thought they were doing the right thing. So it doesn't matter how right you think you are if you're manipulating people's emotions in the same ways to end up in a similar place. Actual benevolent charities also rationalize their actions in their own eyes. To them, they think they're doing the right thing. For that matter, the author of this deceptive blog post probably thought they were doing the right thing, too. So you're right, it doesn't matter how right you think you are. Indeed, what matters is actual reality, which science helps us get closer to, and posts like this, lambasting science and attacking & dehumanizing scientists, take us further away from. Ultimately the goal of science deniers like the one who penned this blog entry is for expertise to be nonexistent, and for the dominant voice to be the loudest and angriest one, rather than the one most factually correct. Those are the actual beginnings of totalitarianism.
- throwaway248329 5y ago
  The ends don't justify the means. If the benevolent charity starts putting people into camps, it's evil.
  - ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
    "The ends don't justify the means" is an opinion that varies based on the ends, the means, and the person making the opinion. It's certainly not a substantive, much less convincing, argument in defense of this blog post's discrediting of science and dehumanization of scientists. Do you believe the ends of making their point justify such means?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      > "The ends don't justify the means" is an opinion that varies based on the ends, the means, and the person making the opinion. How many societies that went down the totalitarian path that would do it again? We're not talking about spending 4min/day brushing your teeth to stave off gum disease in old age here, the means comes with some pretty damn serious downsides.
      - ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
        > How many societies that went down the totalitarian path that would do it again? I'm not sure how this relates to my post saying that the ends may or may not justify the means for any given scenario depending on the ends, and the means, and the person rendering judgement. For example, I judge the ends of "quenching my thirst" to justify the means of "getting something to drink". If the ends never justified the means, I'd die of dehydration. Now, if you could respond to the part of my above post that occurred after the first sentence, too, it would be much appreciated.
happytoexplain 5y ago
When adding sentences to your post, it's better to explicitly mark them as edits, to avoid confusion when reading replies that were posted before the edit.

ImPostingOnHN 5y ago

> The Nazis rationalized their actions in their own eyes. To them, they thought they were doing the right thing. So it doesn't matter how right you think you are if you're manipulating people's emotions in the same ways to end up in a similar place. Actual benevolent charities also rationalize their actions in their own eyes. To them, they think they're doing the right thing. For that matter, the author of this deceptive blog post probably thought they were doing the right thing, too. So you're right, it doesn't matter how right you think you are. Indeed, what matters is actual reality, which science helps us get closer to, and posts like this, lambasting science and attacking & dehumanizing scientists, take us further away from. Ultimately the goal of science deniers like the one who penned this blog entry is for expertise to be nonexistent, and for the dominant voice to be the loudest and angriest one, rather than the one most factually correct. Those are the actual beginnings of totalitarianism.

throwaway248329 5y ago
The ends don't justify the means. If the benevolent charity starts putting people into camps, it's evil.
- ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
  "The ends don't justify the means" is an opinion that varies based on the ends, the means, and the person making the opinion. It's certainly not a substantive, much less convincing, argument in defense of this blog post's discrediting of science and dehumanization of scientists. Do you believe the ends of making their point justify such means?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    > "The ends don't justify the means" is an opinion that varies based on the ends, the means, and the person making the opinion. How many societies that went down the totalitarian path that would do it again? We're not talking about spending 4min/day brushing your teeth to stave off gum disease in old age here, the means comes with some pretty damn serious downsides.
    - ImPostingOnHN 5y ago
      > How many societies that went down the totalitarian path that would do it again? I'm not sure how this relates to my post saying that the ends may or may not justify the means for any given scenario depending on the ends, and the means, and the person rendering judgement. For example, I judge the ends of "quenching my thirst" to justify the means of "getting something to drink". If the ends never justified the means, I'd die of dehydration. Now, if you could respond to the part of my above post that occurred after the first sentence, too, it would be much appreciated.

happytoexplain 5y ago

When adding sentences to your post, it's better to explicitly mark them as edits, to avoid confusion when reading replies that were posted before the edit.