"I support free speech because there is no one I trust to tell me what I can and can't know."
Ah, Hitchens. He was wrong here though. We trust people to at least decide what we can and can't know and see all the time. Every social network removes content (the aforementioned child porn and beheadings and God knows what else) without our kn…
"I support free speech because there is no one I trust to tell me what I can and can't know."
Ah, Hitchens. He was wrong here though. We trust people to at least decide what we can and can't know and see all the time. Every social network removes content (the aforementioned child porn and beheadings and God knows what else) without our knowledge or consent. We get along fine. The government clearly and openly denies us knowledge of all kinds of things about the world. Many of us object to this, but it's still the reality.
Of course, I want to know as much as possible. I'm not advocating for information to be hidden from us.
I'm advocating for clarity about the evidence base for that information, so I know if people are pulling claims out of thin air.
I'm advocating for the humility to recognise that we can't simply "do our own research" on everything from macroeconomics to climate change and we need better tools to explain the facts at a level laypeople can understand.
I'm advocating for transparency from social media companies and improvements to their methods instead of abandoning the concept of truth entirely because it's sometimes difficult.
Most people lack Hitchens' intelligence and memory and literacy. I'm sick of pretending this isn't the case. He was far more capable than most of taking in the raw data and coming up with clear, logical, factual interpretations. And I still wouldn't trust him to come to sensible conclusions about climate change or macroeconomics. I trust the average Joe's ability to do so far less.
"I support free speech because there is no one I trust to tell me what I can and can't know."
Ah, Hitchens. He was wrong here though. We trust people to at least decide what we can and can't know and see all the time. Every social network removes content (the aforementioned child porn and beheadings and God knows what else) without our knowledge or consent. We get along fine. The government clearly and openly denies us knowledge of all kinds of things about the world. Many of us object to this, but it's still the reality.
Of course, I want to know as much as possible. I'm not advocating for information to be hidden from us.
I'm advocating for clarity about the evidence base for that information, so I know if people are pulling claims out of thin air.
I'm advocating for the humility to recognise that we can't simply "do our own research" on everything from macroeconomics to climate change and we need better tools to explain the facts at a level laypeople can understand.
I'm advocating for transparency from social media companies and improvements to their methods instead of abandoning the concept of truth entirely because it's sometimes difficult.
Most people lack Hitchens' intelligence and memory and literacy. I'm sick of pretending this isn't the case. He was far more capable than most of taking in the raw data and coming up with clear, logical, factual interpretations. And I still wouldn't trust him to come to sensible conclusions about climate change or macroeconomics. I trust the average Joe's ability to do so far less.