I can’t comprehend how rationality can hope to propagate in an environment that values social nicety over truth.
The point I was trying to make was that social nicety is a prerequisite for truth, or if not social nicety per se, at least good faith communication.
In general I’d agree that society values nicety more highly than is strictly healthy. To propagate rationality in such circumstances you focus on the battles that you can win. I’m not optimistic about rationality propagating fast but I don’t think focusing on extreme and emotionally charged hypotheticals will get us there any faster.
Maybe give it another 30 years and we’ll see where we are!
(Of course if this is less hypothetical then this discussion would be a very different one.)
The point I was trying to make was that social nicety is a prerequisite for truth, or if not social nicety per se, at least good faith communication.
In general I’d agree that society values nicety more highly than is strictly healthy. To propagate rationality in such circumstances you focus on the battles that you can win. I’m not optimistic about rationality propagating fast but I don’t think focusing on extreme and emotionally charged hypotheticals will get us there any faster.
Maybe give it another 30 years and we’ll see where we are!
(Of course if this is less hypothetical then this discussion would be a very different one.)