The idea that I don’t worry about morals and livelihoods because I’m a liberal is another dangerous meme. Not once in my post did I suggest censorship as the solution; you’re applying the liberals wanna censor meme.
So you’re shutting down thinking because you had preconceived notions from media you saw: thanks for proving my original point.
I certainly don't think it's wise to ignore the problem, and pretend the internet is merely Printing Press 2.0; but neither is realistic to cut it off at the source (even the printing press was not without side effects). The call is coming from inside the house (the human nervous system and its emergent inter-networked social incentives).
> even the printing press was not without side effects)
Understatement of the Year award, right here.
I did briefly consider the possibility of being both left and right authoritarian at the same time, but since this ideology is rarely seen outside the state of Gilead in the The Haidmaid's Tale, took a calculated risk. You're right, my apologies. (And if you haven't seen the Hulu series, it's kind of fascinating: extreme religious conservative sexual repression but with solar panels and EVs and post-money command economy. The show fills this out a little more than the book did).
This is true and important (and I'd add that if it doesn't make you uncomfortable... either you haven't taken in the full depth of it, or your mindset is very different from my own).
At the same time, though, there's already research that shows mindsets can be at primed by language, stories, even sensory experience. It's unlikely that people can be remote controlled, but it does appear they can be manipulated and have their mindset moved at least marginally by as minor an intervention as holding a warm drink, and I don't think anyone has a good idea of how far that can go for large-scale long-term information environment efforts.
This is not a left vs right thing, it's a liberty vs autocracy thing. If the popular autocrats win, they punish the people who have "mindsets that are different from" their supporters.
I'm sorry but I need to whip out this quote from SSC once again:
"Here is a story I heard from a friend, which I will alter slightly to protect the innocent. A prestigious psychology professor signed an open letter in which psychologists condemned belief in innate sex differences. My friend knew that this professor believed such differences existed, and asked him why he signed the letter. He said that he expected everyone else in his department would sign it, so it would look really bad if he didn’t. My friend asked why he expected everyone else in his department to sign it, and he said “Probably for the same reason I did”.
From SSC, of course
... Idk why you chose to use liberals in your example when their push for woke political correctness is nothing short of autocratic thought control.
Are you referring to people who attended the Trump rallies or the protestors against racism?
There are some things that people judge to be more important than the risk of Covid-19. Whether you find that reasonable or not, may say a lot more about your priors and priorities than about the logic of the people gathering.