4 ms·

Such a good, and important, take on the state of affairs. Outright censorship is bad. But even worse is when an environment is fostered in which folks will pree

Such a good, and important, take on the state of affairs. Outright censorship is bad. But even worse is when an environment is fostered in which folks will preemptively self-censor. It’s terrifying.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago
Everybody self censors all the time. We learn to do it as children, as it is a normal part of human psychology. It is so automatic that evidently people have forgotten that they do it.
- SyzygistSix 4y ago
  And spending some time as a young adult exploring that is crucial to a person's development. I'm reminded of a part in Illuminatus when one of the characters while high "...probably made a good argument for rape and murder while he was at it...". Spending time radically deconstructing societal expectations was very good for my development as a young 20-something. Fortunately, from what I hear anyway, there is good quality LSD available and certainly no shortage of dicks to kick.
  - slater- 4y ago
    Yes, thank you for this. Deconstruction is THE artistic skill. Sometimes the parts whose sum make up the whole are kind of ugly on their own. We shouldn't be afraid of this when it happens. There will always be the more literal-minded people who can't handle this, and I guess that's ok. But catering to them becomes a tiring, never-ending descent into boringness. Hopefully the kids actually taking acid these days are also laughing at some of the bizarre, authoritarian/well-meaning takes I keep reading on the internet, and just aren't commenting. Because they're too busy doing butt stuff.
EntropyIsAHoax 4y ago
How so? I personally prefer to live in a world where expressing certain opinions in public is socially unacceptable and will make you an outcast. For example, I don't want to hear anyone's transphobic opinions, as is the case with this author. I really wish she would self-censor like she claims is such an epidemic, instead of being featured in the BBC doing the exact opposite. Obviously in general I don't want someone to face violence for expressing an opinion, but I don't want to hear bigotry like this being echoed in the news, in social media, by my friends, etc... because I like living a peaceful life.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago

Everybody self censors all the time. We learn to do it as children, as it is a normal part of human psychology. It is so automatic that evidently people have forgotten that they do it.

SyzygistSix 4y ago
And spending some time as a young adult exploring that is crucial to a person's development. I'm reminded of a part in Illuminatus when one of the characters while high "...probably made a good argument for rape and murder while he was at it...". Spending time radically deconstructing societal expectations was very good for my development as a young 20-something. Fortunately, from what I hear anyway, there is good quality LSD available and certainly no shortage of dicks to kick.
- slater- 4y ago
  Yes, thank you for this. Deconstruction is THE artistic skill. Sometimes the parts whose sum make up the whole are kind of ugly on their own. We shouldn't be afraid of this when it happens. There will always be the more literal-minded people who can't handle this, and I guess that's ok. But catering to them becomes a tiring, never-ending descent into boringness. Hopefully the kids actually taking acid these days are also laughing at some of the bizarre, authoritarian/well-meaning takes I keep reading on the internet, and just aren't commenting. Because they're too busy doing butt stuff.

EntropyIsAHoax 4y ago

How so? I personally prefer to live in a world where expressing certain opinions in public is socially unacceptable and will make you an outcast. For example, I don't want to hear anyone's transphobic opinions, as is the case with this author. I really wish she would self-censor like she claims is such an epidemic, instead of being featured in the BBC doing the exact opposite. Obviously in general I don't want someone to face violence for expressing an opinion, but I don't want to hear bigotry like this being echoed in the news, in social media, by my friends, etc... because I like living a peaceful life.