3 ms·

Huh. I wish there was a wiki of such ideas. Just so we can check out taboos against other's. Edit: http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html http://tabo

Huh. I wish there was a wiki of such ideas. Just so we can check out taboos against other's. Edit: http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html

rms 18y ago
One of the ones that comes up here every now and then and always generates a heated discussion that goes nowhere is the idea that there are genetic differences in intelligence between people with ancestors originating from different parts of the world.
- radu_floricica 18y ago
  I'm a bit worried we keep discussing the same ideas and we miss the less obvious ones, and the more ingrained. We can pretty much all agree race, drugs, religion, pornography, sex and minors, copyright infringement are controversial topics, but (with the possible exception of sex and minors) they have been talked to death. I'd like to see a place where a Chinese reader can point out what he considers a default taboo in western culture. Edit: And a list of 100 taboos has a better chance of hitting a couple I'm not aware of.
  - rms 18y ago
    If you put the wiki up I'll try and contribute a couple of taboos... Some default Western taboos are the inability to question the institutions of capitalism and democracy.
    - radu_floricica 18y ago
      http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html
      - deleted 18y ago
        [deleted]
    - eru 18y ago
      Capitalism gets questioned a lot in the west. Just go to your nearest union meeting.
      - lutorm 18y ago
        I'm not sure even in union meetings they are questioning whether abolishing capitalism would be a good idea. Look at the coverage of Hugo Chavez in the US. He's been elected several times (and had referenda fail) in internationally monitored elections, yet coverage often puts him in the same sentence as Castro. That's what happens if you are really thinking about alternatives to capitalism.
    - david927 18y ago
      Only if by Western you mean "the U.S. and Japan." Canada, Europe and the rest of the Western world has a deep understanding of the limitations of Capitalism, and the word Socialism can be said without it being confused with Communism.
philh 18y ago
As the list currently stands, it looks more like a list of controversial topics. Maybe you "can't" question capitalism in a "right-wing" setting, or defend it in a "left-wing" one, but that seems fairly tame. And it's well-known and accepted that there are two groups who disagree on the subject. Noone will argue that you should be locked up for taking either position; you won't be ostracised from your community even if it predominantly disagrees with you. Sex and minors is better; "children have sexuality" can be said but "children are emotionally capable of choosing sexual partners outside a narrow age bracket" probably can't outside of NAMBLA. I've also added holocaust denial.
- rms 18y ago
  "Post-term abortion" is quite a euphemism, I think that one goes beyond simple controversy to total taboo.
- menloparkbum 18y ago
  add in "unit tests are not generally useful"
pg 18y ago
There's something like that at http://www.paulgraham.com/labels.html http://www.paulgraham.com/labels.html

Huh. I wish there was a wiki of such ideas. Just so we can check out taboos against other's. Edit: http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html

rms 18y ago

One of the ones that comes up here every now and then and always generates a heated discussion that goes nowhere is the idea that there are genetic differences in intelligence between people with ancestors originating from different parts of the world.

radu_floricica 18y ago
I'm a bit worried we keep discussing the same ideas and we miss the less obvious ones, and the more ingrained. We can pretty much all agree race, drugs, religion, pornography, sex and minors, copyright infringement are controversial topics, but (with the possible exception of sex and minors) they have been talked to death. I'd like to see a place where a Chinese reader can point out what he considers a default taboo in western culture. Edit: And a list of 100 taboos has a better chance of hitting a couple I'm not aware of.
- rms 18y ago
  If you put the wiki up I'll try and contribute a couple of taboos... Some default Western taboos are the inability to question the institutions of capitalism and democracy.
  - radu_floricica 18y ago
    http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html http://taboos.wiki.zoho.com/TabooCollection.html
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
  - eru 18y ago
    Capitalism gets questioned a lot in the west. Just go to your nearest union meeting.
    - lutorm 18y ago
      I'm not sure even in union meetings they are questioning whether abolishing capitalism would be a good idea. Look at the coverage of Hugo Chavez in the US. He's been elected several times (and had referenda fail) in internationally monitored elections, yet coverage often puts him in the same sentence as Castro. That's what happens if you are really thinking about alternatives to capitalism.
  - david927 18y ago
    Only if by Western you mean "the U.S. and Japan." Canada, Europe and the rest of the Western world has a deep understanding of the limitations of Capitalism, and the word Socialism can be said without it being confused with Communism.

philh 18y ago

As the list currently stands, it looks more like a list of controversial topics. Maybe you "can't" question capitalism in a "right-wing" setting, or defend it in a "left-wing" one, but that seems fairly tame. And it's well-known and accepted that there are two groups who disagree on the subject. Noone will argue that you should be locked up for taking either position; you won't be ostracised from your community even if it predominantly disagrees with you. Sex and minors is better; "children have sexuality" can be said but "children are emotionally capable of choosing sexual partners outside a narrow age bracket" probably can't outside of NAMBLA. I've also added holocaust denial.

rms 18y ago
"Post-term abortion" is quite a euphemism, I think that one goes beyond simple controversy to total taboo.
menloparkbum 18y ago
add in "unit tests are not generally useful"

pg 18y ago

There's something like that at http://www.paulgraham.com/labels.html http://www.paulgraham.com/labels.html