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Comment by jacoblyles | Hacker News Reader

>"But my plea to you all is to stick up for what you believe in - despite knowing that you will undoubtedly encounter hardships as a result. Yeah, it's hard. But believe me, it's worth it."

Why is it worth it? Because you say so? A person who holds a minority belief may risk personal and professional alienation if he expresses that belief without restraint. How do you know that self-expression is worth it for him?

Isn't this post an example of the pathology it describes? "Being true to yourself" is something you're supposed to believe in post-1960s American culture. The author offers nothing but emotion-based arguments for a popular ideal.

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A society in which people are not willing to trust each other and express their opinion is in a very real sense broken. No politician on capitol hill is willing to express their real opinion and look at where that has lead us. Special interests dominate every aspect of law making and every deal happens behind closed doors. This is truly a sad state of affairs and it is so mostly because nobody is willing to say what is really on their mind. All we get now are ideological shouting matches because just like muscles atrophy when not used so does the mental faculty of thinking for yourself.

If people said what was really on their mind, wouldn't we have more ideological shouting matches?

Perhaps. But ideas wouldn't be getting ignored simply because they're different or unpopular.

I agree that the word 'worth' was poor choice. That's opinion.

My only argument was that it seems beneficial for an individual, even if only in the long run, to exercise open and honest self-expression. Emotion-based? Sure. But that doesn't negate any validity, does it?

>Emotion-based? Sure. But that doesn't negate any validity, does it?

For me - yes. I try not to believe things on the basis of emotion alone.

And you shouldn't. Just like you shouldn't dismiss validity because it's emotion-based.

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