It’s happening.
“The culture wars are over. The battle is over knowledge.” @SovMichael @SovNations
@peterboghossian @ConceptualJames @HPluckrose
@peterboghossian talks about things that interfere with dialogue. Cites @ConceptualJames’s tweet after Peter pleaded on Twitter for people to restrict using the term “Nazi” for actual Nazis... & was promptly called... (you guessed it...) a Nazi. Link here:
Now @peterboghossian describes the moral infrastructure that interferes with freedom of speech, cognitive liberty, productive discourse, and parrhesia.
Destructive tactics include: name-calling, the idea that speech is violence, invoking “inclusion” (which isn’t actually inclusive), disinvitations, Bias Response Teams (BRTs), cancel culture, and idea laundering. (Quoted @glukianoff @JonHaidt @BretWeinstein and @TheFIREorg
.@HPluckrose speaking now about the evolution of postmodern thought and what we see now — esp. in the takeover of “social justice” by a radical ideology.

@GSpellchecker is live-tweeting a more detailed account of the conference here:
A theory becomes deranged when it’s based on a tower of tautology, closed to criticism, and impervious to evidence, says @HPluckrose
Liberalism, for all its advancements, can’t be taken for granted, says @ConceptualJames. Critical theorists have been cited more than any others.
The freedoms to think, to speak, to choose, and be arbiters if our own lives are rejected by current theorists: liberal humanism, the idea that people are free to make their own decisions, is seen as a mechanism for keeping marginalized people in their place. @ConceptualJames
When a theory “problematizes” everything, disallows neutrality, (if you’re not on the right side, you’re an enemy) is morally normative (enemies are evil), and requires a “lifelong commitment,” it’s a recipe for destroying liberal, pluralist democracy.
Our best theories can fail spectacularly in practice. (See communism.) In theory, social justice activists should allow everyone to be more free and more equal. In practice, critical theory social justice is a means of destroying liberalism and freedom.

Panel! We finally hear from @MikeNayna, who is normally behind the camera. And acknowledgment of Alan Sokol (in attendance).
All methods of producing knowledge are not equal. Progress requires answers that are less false; that are connected to reality. We solve problems of human suffering by doing the hard work of getting things right; by caring about whether our ideas are true. @ConceptualJames
Some questions math teachers are now being asked to consider:
“Who gets to say if an answer is right?” and “How can we change mathematics from individual thinking to collective thinking?”

“Have faith,” @ConceptualJames says. Have confidence in dialogue, science, and liberalism.
Critical social justice math questions. (“How important is it to be right? What is right? Says who?”)
We don’t need to argue that people don’t have biases or that language doesn’t have power or that culture isn’t socially constructed or that inequalities don’t exist...etc. in order to reject the illiberal tenets of critical social justice theory. @HPluckrose
“We have been wounding each other with words forever.” Being thoughtful about how we speak doesn’t mean we need to silence people. Don’t be sucked into the false dichotomy And don’t fall into the trap of rejecting social justice because you abhor critical social justice methods.
The Way Forward: Start by listening.
The inimitable @andrewdoyle_com talks about the importance of satire in exposing illiberalism — eg Satirical ANONYMOUS articles accepted in mainstream publications (including one about @SamHarrisOrg videos by genderqueer Muslim atheist character Godfrey Elfwick) @godblesstoto
The only way to fight fascism is to give the government the power to arrest people for the things they say—says @TitaniaMcGrath (who is hay-racial & eco-sexual).
amazon.com/Woke-Social-Ju…
Sometimes @TitaniaMcGrath copies what others have said in earnest—in part, to show the radical woke how they appear to others. Cancel culture is an expression of the reality that no one in power likes to be mocked says @andrewdoyle_com
.@MikeNayna points out the Orwellian use of language. @andrewdoyle_com notes the Twitter “trust and safety council” (not a joke).
.@ConceptualJames says that Trump’s election and presidency are seen as evidence of the country’s inherent racism and the need for critical social justice. @HPluckrose says she’s more optimistic. (Which, she notes, isn’t hard.)
The answer is dialogue—with whomever is willing to engage (say @peterboghossian @ConceptualJames). Defend freedom of speech for the ppl whose speech you dislike (says @HPluckrose). Don’t use the tools of cancel culture. “The answer to bad speech is more speech”
(@andrewdoyle_com)
Instead of defining “us” in identitarian terms, anyone who is willing to engage in true dialogue—without accusing their interlocutors of secretly believing horrid things—is part of “us,” regardless of background or ideology.
.@HPluckrose reminds us to have compassion. @ConceptualJames says to be friends with people who disagree. @MikeNayna says own your guilt & don’t join a critical social justice cult to deal with your guilt. @andrewdoyle_com thinks if more ppl spoke up, we’d reach a tipping point.
We need to be honest about the nature of our problems and forthright about what we believe, says @peterboghossian. Have impossible conversations.
Met really interesting people today. How great to be in a room full of people who disagree about a lot of things and can see our shared humanity.
More...
Bye London. It was great to be here. Tomorrow I go to Venice to talk to people about those who had the courage to hide Jews during WWII.
Miss you already @HPluckrose @peterboghossian @ConceptualJames @MikeNayna @MsMelChen @andrewdoyle_com @GSpellchecker
@SovMichael
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