First, note that I’m not saying one should censor Chopra, merely that he’s not worth including for this sort of thing. That’s not “silencing” by any reasonable definition.
It should be noted that TakeOnIt is setup to allow the general public to suggest expert quotes, and with a short track record as a non-spammer, people get promoted to moderator status, and can directly add a quote. So some members of TakeOnIt are impressed with Chopra, and it would be counterproductive censorship to say that they are not allowed to add his quotes. What we get in exchange for allowing this is that the general public is helping to build the database of expert opinions, and may even include real experts that we would not have known to look at.
Or again consider Benjamin Franklin, whose opinion on cryonics I’m sympathetic with but whom just didn’t have any knowledge that would justify considering his opinion worthy of weight.
Franklin’s quote is more about cryonics being good if it were feasible than if it is feasible. Ben, do you think it should be moved to this question?
I see the argument for it being counterproductive which I’m tentatively convinced by. But it isn’t censorship by most definitions of the term. Saying “you can’t say X” is censorship saying “You can’t say X on my website” is not censorship. (Again, I am convinced by the counterproductivity argument so we seem to at this point be in more or less agreement if one is going to try to run TakeOnIt in a manner close to the intended general purpose).
Moving Franklin might make sense. Unfortunately, many of the people discussing cryonics are also talking about its general desirability. The questions seem to be frequently discussed together. Incidentally note that there’s a high correlation between having a moral or philosophical objection to cryonics and being likely to think it won’t work. This potentially suggests that there’s some belief overkill going on on one or both sides of this argument.
It should be noted that TakeOnIt is setup to allow the general public to suggest expert quotes, and with a short track record as a non-spammer, people get promoted to moderator status, and can directly add a quote. So some members of TakeOnIt are impressed with Chopra, and it would be counterproductive censorship to say that they are not allowed to add his quotes. What we get in exchange for allowing this is that the general public is helping to build the database of expert opinions, and may even include real experts that we would not have known to look at.
Franklin’s quote is more about cryonics being good if it were feasible than if it is feasible. Ben, do you think it should be moved to this question?
Good call.
I see the argument for it being counterproductive which I’m tentatively convinced by. But it isn’t censorship by most definitions of the term. Saying “you can’t say X” is censorship saying “You can’t say X on my website” is not censorship. (Again, I am convinced by the counterproductivity argument so we seem to at this point be in more or less agreement if one is going to try to run TakeOnIt in a manner close to the intended general purpose).
Moving Franklin might make sense. Unfortunately, many of the people discussing cryonics are also talking about its general desirability. The questions seem to be frequently discussed together. Incidentally note that there’s a high correlation between having a moral or philosophical objection to cryonics and being likely to think it won’t work. This potentially suggests that there’s some belief overkill going on on one or both sides of this argument.