Scott wrote: ↑October 27th, 2022, 3:12 pm
- 1. When we censor those who distastefully present a distasteful or false idea, we strengthen the distasteful or false idea and help it propagate.
- 2. Falsehood is overcome by being exposed, not hidden.
- 3. Hate is overcome by being exposed, not hidden.
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2022, 12:44 pm
[Edited into a list by me.]
This seems to be a list of unjustified assertions; opinions only.
I think the three numbered sentences quoted above are supported in part by the sentences left out of the quote above that were also included in the OP:
Scott wrote: ↑October 27th, 2022, 3:12 pm
We become like a lion who not only strengthens the herd by eating the weakest slowest antelope, but also who strengthens the herd by unifying the herd against the lion (the common enemy).
Censorship is like the clouds that cover the sun.
Hate and falsehood thrive in and thanks to the darkness.
Peace, love, and truth ultimately will and do thrive under the illuminating light of open-mindedness, peaceful discussion, and free speech.
***
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2022, 12:44 pmIn contrast, and by definition, censorship prevents or minimises the spread of the idea in question,
hindering its propagation.
Depending on what you mean by
spread, I am likely to agree.
For instance, if an invalid/untrue hypothesis gets repeated to (i.e.
spread to) a scientist who then publicly tests it and debunks it, it would be true that prohibiting the scientist have from having heard it in the first place and/or tested it would in a sense reduce the
spread of the idea in terms of exposure and thereby increase the belief in the idea by not exposing the easily debunked idea to the light of day, so to speak.
We must then differentiate between spreading awareness of the idea (propagation of awareness of the idea) versus actual belief in its truth.
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2022, 12:44 pm
Point #2. Assumption: Falsehood
should be "overcome".
I am not sure if you are saying that is an assumption you are making, or claiming it is an assumption I am making. In any case, it's neither an assumption I am making nor that I believe.
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2022, 12:44 pm
Logically, it seems reasonable to combat the spread of misinformation.
How does that logically follow from anything you or I have stated in this thread? What rule of logic was used to conclude that? Which previous statements (i.e. premises) does it logically follow from?
In any case, I do not agree with that conclusion.
Depending on what's meant by the word "spread", I might generally prefer the opposite.
For example, I would much prefer to put my kids in a school that teaches them about the Salem Witch Trials, the KKK, and Nazis, rather than one that never mentions such things and whitewashes them from the history books.
Similarly, I would like invalid/false hypotheses spread to scientists to openly test, typically repeatedly by multiple different scientists in peer reviewed ways, and the results of the test spread to me and others.
That is, especially, if the alternative was to desperately cover the invalid/false ideas up and treat them as if they deserved the respect people give Voldemort ("he who must not be named").
Typically, desperate cover-ups are--rightfully--seen as evidence (not proof, but evidence) of the important truth of that which is being desperately covered up. Like me, one is not afraid to say Voldemort's name when they know he is not real and true. Those who do fear to say his name thereby betray their belief in him.
For instance, the moment it becomes illegal by threat of prison to talk about Flat Earth Theory is the moment I'll start taking it much more seriously. For now, I don't believe in it or take it seriously, and very glad that people like Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about it a lot, in a sense reducing belief in the idea by spreading and propagating the awareness of it.
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2022, 12:44 pm
Assumption: that censorship applies (only?) to false information...
Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2022, 12:44 pm
Assumption: that censorship and hatred are somehow linked.
I am confused about who is making or allegedly making these assumptions, and what they would even mean.