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Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

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Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#121
post #55

I grew up in the US being told that freedom of speech was a virtue, something that our country did very well and I always thought that it was a shared value. It's very surprising to me to see that change in such a short span, or possibly it was not as popular or widespread as I thought it was growing up and I just never noticed. Is it the internet that has caused this uptick in the number of people who think free spe…

I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say? Or to be blocked from being able to say it out loud? I think what you mean is that people are calling for internet platforms to kick out certain groups. This is in no way a call against freedom of speech. I am not sure why people suddenly believe that being for 'free speech' means that other p…

> I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say? Or to be blocked from being able to say it out loud?

That sounds like the logic behind "free speech zones". Yeah, we're not blocking protests, or arresting legal protesters. You just have to protest in a designated area 5 miles away where it won't disrupt everyone.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#122
post #55

I grew up in the US being told that freedom of speech was a virtue, something that our country did very well and I always thought that it was a shared value. It's very surprising to me to see that change in such a short span, or possibly it was not as popular or widespread as I thought it was growing up and I just never noticed. Is it the internet that has caused this uptick in the number of people who think free spe…

I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say? Or to be blocked from being able to say it out loud? I think what you mean is that people are calling for internet platforms to kick out certain groups. This is in no way a call against freedom of speech. I am not sure why people suddenly believe that being for 'free speech' means that other p…

One think that different is activism acting as censorship. If big corp doesn’t censor whatever the issue of the day is, you have groups who influence these media to censor.

You have registrars who take it upon themselves to decide what’s acceptable and not. That’s like pac bell refusing to print someone’s phone number in an old phone book because they disagreed with them.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#123

Makes perfect sense to me. The free exchange of information is more appealing and less threatening when you have more information processing capability to begin with.

> The free exchange of information is more appealing and less threatening when you have more information processing capability to begin with. I struggle to get this. "Dumb" people feel threatened when others can freely express themselves?

Well yes, why wouldn't they be? It's to their advantage that nobody talks if they are not very good at talking.

Lets imagine a workplace with two teams with two not very intelligent leaders, and two intelligent up and comer. One team leader goes "I'm open for suggestion, talk to other teams, talk to my boss" and he's replaced in a year. The other boss goes "We need to enforce a hierarchy, only juniors speak to seniors, only seniors speak to me, only I speak to other teams" he might have that job for YEARS as the other managers go "wow that guy suddenly started delivering results and I thought he was dumb, I guess I was wrong".

If you imagine both team leaders are smart, than the smart team leader who allowed open communication will probably outperform the one who didn't since they're not threatened by the junior regardless.

If you're not very smart, coming up with ways to make people less free to speak can show wisdom.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say? Or to be blocked from being able to say it out loud? I think what you mean is that people are calling for internet platforms to kick out certain groups. This is in no way a call against freedom of speech. I am not sure why people suddenly believe that being for 'free speech' means that other p…

You should spend some time on a college campus. Shouting down speakers and deplatforming non-progressives is more common than one might think.

This also has to do with platforming.

And it's not just about progressives, my university (Harvard) disinvited a progressive speaker after pressure from the CIA.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Forcing private entities to host speech they don't want to goes against what I define as freedom of speech. What if a private entity owns the town square?

Then build a town square that is publicly owned, we as society decided to wave our hands of the responsibility of making a publicly owned the internet for the convenience of allowing big tech do it for us. The solution is not force private companies to host speech. It either create a publicly owned town square on the internet or collectively stop valuing/using these platforms so much.

I think you need to familiarize yourself with the scenario more closely:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh_v._Alabama

Regulating corporations is common and I suspect you fully support regulation in many circumstances (such as utilities). It seems bizarre to me why people think speech should somehow be exempt.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#126
post #55

I grew up in the US being told that freedom of speech was a virtue, something that our country did very well and I always thought that it was a shared value. It's very surprising to me to see that change in such a short span, or possibly it was not as popular or widespread as I thought it was growing up and I just never noticed. Is it the internet that has caused this uptick in the number of people who think free spe…

I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say? Or to be blocked from being able to say it out loud? I think what you mean is that people are calling for internet platforms to kick out certain groups. This is in no way a call against freedom of speech. I am not sure why people suddenly believe that being for 'free speech' means that other p…

> I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say?

The way it works is: "Sure I support free speech, but saying X is not free speech and saying it should be against the law because its offensive and might incite violence or something."

If you object, they trot out Popper quotes about tolerating intolerance.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not heard any group calling for free speech to be blocked. Who is calling for people to be arrested for what they say? Or to be blocked from being able to say it out loud? I think what you mean is that people are calling for internet platforms to kick out certain groups. This is in no way a call against freedom of speech. I am not sure why people suddenly believe that being for 'free speech' means that other p…

You should spend some time on a college campus. Shouting down speakers and deplatforming non-progressives is more common than one might think.

That is perfectly in line with freedom of speech. Is the government showing up and arresting the speakers? No? Then freedom of speech is intact.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give some examples? Is it actually speech that's being restricted, or actions, or access to certain types of speech/content (e.g. age restrictions)?

Well, for awhile there was lots of talk about CRT. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/02/texas-critical-race-...

Regardless of your stance on this topic, this is a bad example. Regulating what teachers are allowed to tell students in the course of their employment as teachers is not a freedom of speech issue, any more than the owner of a fast food restaurant requiring their employees to upsell is a freedom of speech issue.

Yes, there are higher ideals in play in the first case, but that does not make it a freedom of speech issue, legally or even ethically. Employers can regulate what you say while working for them on their time, and that holds whether the employer is private or public.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Free speech, Freedom from prosecution for speech and speech without any consequences are all confused with each other. To me, the freedoms to oppose some speech, by way of boycotting, protesting, shunning and shaming is also speech. There’s also the difference between beheading for speech and getting your Twitter account suspended. If someone says absolutely nutty stuff in a town square and the local folks dr…

There is a semantic dispute over how free speech should be defined which is wrapped up in your views of the subject to begin with, but in my view the most consistent way to define the topic is that free speech is "the notion that people should speak freely without fear of social sanction". When I think of somebody who supports free speech, I think of somebody who: - Speaks in a less filtered way - Brushes off people…

Hidden in your notion of free speech is the expectation that I shut up when you say something offensive to me or don’t agree with - “Brushes off people saying something offensive about them”. That’s what I’m taking an issue with.

Re: Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)

#130
post #55

I grew up in the US being told that freedom of speech was a virtue, something that our country did very well and I always thought that it was a shared value. It's very surprising to me to see that change in such a short span, or possibly it was not as popular or widespread as I thought it was growing up and I just never noticed. Is it the internet that has caused this uptick in the number of people who think free spe…

The right to free speech also imposes an unenforced responsibility to use that speech wisely. The internet and smartphones enabled people to easily and quickly:

- Send true threats to people, which were always illegal.

- Publish things that are legal, but far more uselessly divisive and stress-inducing than if they'd needed to take time to edit it.

- Wake up and immediately read ambiguous language uncharitably as a threat.

the rise in the irresponsible publishing and uncharitable reading of speech has led more people to decide that we can no longer have nice things.

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