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0/ !! YOU'RE WRONG & THEREFORE CENSORED !!
Covid panic and hysteria led to a semi-permanent mass delusion that looks to be with us for a while. But the worst victim in all this is freedom, and free expression in particular. Here is a thread of Moments on the topic.
A thread.
Covid panic and hysteria led to a semi-permanent mass delusion that looks to be with us for a while. But the worst victim in all this is freedom, and free expression in particular. Here is a thread of Moments on the topic.
A thread.
1/ GOSSIP IS THE CURE TO CENSORSHIP
Our complex social networks are more than just places to say stuff. It is through a trillion chaotic debates that the network as a whole eventually converges toward the truth. Censorship undermines that.
Our complex social networks are more than just places to say stuff. It is through a trillion chaotic debates that the network as a whole eventually converges toward the truth. Censorship undermines that.
2/ CONCEIT OF UNDERSTANDING
Much of why society "works" has been designed for us, but not by any committee. Instead, it occurs via decentralized cultural selection processes that no one understands. And those selection processes rely on free expression.
Much of why society "works" has been designed for us, but not by any committee. Instead, it occurs via decentralized cultural selection processes that no one understands. And those selection processes rely on free expression.
3/ YOUR BRAIN ON CIVIL RIGHTS
Even if you can come up with some ingenious ethical justification for why it's ok to censor people, real humans don't "work" when you violate their freedoms. And free expression is among the top of those freedoms.
Even if you can come up with some ingenious ethical justification for why it's ok to censor people, real humans don't "work" when you violate their freedoms. And free expression is among the top of those freedoms.
4/ LIVE MUSICAL EXPRESSION IS DYING
Music has culturally evolved to sound like humans moving expressively in your midst, and is just another facet of free expression that is in deep trouble.
Music has culturally evolved to sound like humans moving expressively in your midst, and is just another facet of free expression that is in deep trouble.
5/ FREE EXPRESSION VS CENSORSHIP
Covid hysteria shifted the main axis of political debate from Left vs Right to Up (freedom) vs Down (authoritarian). Those on the Up side come from all portions of the spectrum, & share an appreciation of free expression.
Covid hysteria shifted the main axis of political debate from Left vs Right to Up (freedom) vs Down (authoritarian). Those on the Up side come from all portions of the spectrum, & share an appreciation of free expression.
6/ MASKS ARE AN ASSAULT ON FREE EXPRESSION
Face masks not only muffle our speech, but eliminate almost entirely our facial expressions, something that is a central part of free expression.
Face masks not only muffle our speech, but eliminate almost entirely our facial expressions, something that is a central part of free expression.
7/ NO IDENTITY, NO EXPRESSION
Even if face masks didn’t wreck emotional expressions, they wreck free expression for a distinct reason: Free expression is moot if the speaker has no identity. With masks, we have no identity.
Even if face masks didn’t wreck emotional expressions, they wreck free expression for a distinct reason: Free expression is moot if the speaker has no identity. With masks, we have no identity.
8/ MASKS ARE REAL LIFE SHADOW BANS
One of the more egregious attacks on free expression is the “shadow ban,” where one is banned but doesn’t even know it. Face masks are real-life variants of this.
One of the more egregious attacks on free expression is the “shadow ban,” where one is banned but doesn’t even know it. Face masks are real-life variants of this.
9/ HOW COVID ATTACKED FREE EXPRESSION
I summarize the first year of Covid hysteria and the attacks on free expression, and how it motivated the launch of our new research institute, FreeX. ( http://freeX.group )
I summarize the first year of Covid hysteria and the attacks on free expression, and how it motivated the launch of our new research institute, FreeX. ( http://freeX.group )
10/ EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS ARE KEY
Most people do not appreciate that emotional expressions are crucial to the very notion of free expression. Censor your tone, and they censor you.
Most people do not appreciate that emotional expressions are crucial to the very notion of free expression. Censor your tone, and they censor you.
11/ FREE EXPRESSION IS DYING
Here I walk through the many different directions from which free expression is being attacked.
See also my piece in the federalist: https://thefederalist.com/2021/04/20/the-scariest-covid-19-casualty-you-cant-talk-about-is-free-speech/
Here I walk through the many different directions from which free expression is being attacked.
See also my piece in the federalist: https://thefederalist.com/2021/04/20/the-scariest-covid-19-casualty-you-cant-talk-about-is-free-speech/
