If discussion of a certain topic results in one sided and disproportionate unpleasantness, driving out certain folk, this is likely to affect a wide range of subjects, since one can usually infer that if someone is intolerant of belief X, he is intolerant of beliefs Y and Z. Intolerance usually reflects a belief system which is apt to have an official line on just about everything.
Since mentioning the most obvious and important example of such a belief system is apt to have adverse consequences, I will mention a substantially less important and less menacing example of such a belief system, that of the Ayn Rand institute.
Perhaps even more important than the ‘death spirals’ is that of a subject-limited evaporative cooling of beliefs.
Good point. I agree.
Why subject limited?
If discussion of a certain topic results in one sided and disproportionate unpleasantness, driving out certain folk, this is likely to affect a wide range of subjects, since one can usually infer that if someone is intolerant of belief X, he is intolerant of beliefs Y and Z. Intolerance usually reflects a belief system which is apt to have an official line on just about everything.
Since mentioning the most obvious and important example of such a belief system is apt to have adverse consequences, I will mention a substantially less important and less menacing example of such a belief system, that of the Ayn Rand institute.
Just the zoom setting. I wasn’t talking about plausible broad ramification—even though they obviously do exist.
Indeed.