So—I’m not sure I want to get along with those who are totally wrong (or who I think are). More power to altruism, you rock, but I wonder sometimes if we do not bring some of this stupidity on ourselves by tolerating and giving voice to idiocy.
I look, for example, at the vaccination situation; I live in Southern California, a hotbed of clueless celebrity bozos who think for some reason they know more about disease and epidemiology than freaking doctors, and who cause real harm—actual loss of human life—to their community, of which my kids are a part.
Ok—maybe they’re not totally wrong, I am willing to accept that some small percentage are actually opting out of vaccinations for good medical reasons, at the advice of their physicians—a buddy of mine has a daughter who fought leukemia, and the vaccinations deep in the middle of her treatments would have been very bad—but that doesn’t mean I can, or should, give pass to the idiots who do it because they “don’t want to put poisons in their children’s bodies”.
Point being—I cannot help but think that we might have been better off, as a society, if we took the first few who did that, put em in stocks in the middle of town, and threw rotten fruit at them. It should be socially unacceptable to be that wrong, not be something that gets them interviewed on tv.
I know—this is aimed more at philosophical differences, or matters of opinion, trying to prevent online debate from spiraling down into a flamewar. I just can’t help but feel we are developing a society where people have the expectation that their wrong beliefs are somehow to be protected from criticism. Believe whatever crazy thing you want—but do not expect to be unmocked for it. Maybe—just maybe—getting roasted pretty good online is a useful educational experience. Maybe if people got flamed good and hard on usenet back in the late 80′s, they wouldn’t do the stupid public shaming (and evoking the mob response) they do today. Sometimes, the burned hand teaches best.
Or maybe I’m just an asshole. Who knows. It is certainly within the realms of possibility. Even so—being an asshole does not automatically mean you’re wrong.
So—I’m not sure I want to get along with those who are totally wrong (or who I think are). More power to altruism, you rock, but I wonder sometimes if we do not bring some of this stupidity on ourselves by tolerating and giving voice to idiocy.
I look, for example, at the vaccination situation; I live in Southern California, a hotbed of clueless celebrity bozos who think for some reason they know more about disease and epidemiology than freaking doctors, and who cause real harm—actual loss of human life—to their community, of which my kids are a part.
Ok—maybe they’re not totally wrong, I am willing to accept that some small percentage are actually opting out of vaccinations for good medical reasons, at the advice of their physicians—a buddy of mine has a daughter who fought leukemia, and the vaccinations deep in the middle of her treatments would have been very bad—but that doesn’t mean I can, or should, give pass to the idiots who do it because they “don’t want to put poisons in their children’s bodies”.
Point being—I cannot help but think that we might have been better off, as a society, if we took the first few who did that, put em in stocks in the middle of town, and threw rotten fruit at them. It should be socially unacceptable to be that wrong, not be something that gets them interviewed on tv.
I know—this is aimed more at philosophical differences, or matters of opinion, trying to prevent online debate from spiraling down into a flamewar. I just can’t help but feel we are developing a society where people have the expectation that their wrong beliefs are somehow to be protected from criticism. Believe whatever crazy thing you want—but do not expect to be unmocked for it. Maybe—just maybe—getting roasted pretty good online is a useful educational experience. Maybe if people got flamed good and hard on usenet back in the late 80′s, they wouldn’t do the stupid public shaming (and evoking the mob response) they do today. Sometimes, the burned hand teaches best.
Or maybe I’m just an asshole. Who knows. It is certainly within the realms of possibility. Even so—being an asshole does not automatically mean you’re wrong.
Just food for thought.