There’s a certain type of person who engages in very unfortunate behavior on social media globally. And there are a lot of them. Let’s call them “aggressive conformists”. They mean well but because they’re so vocally conformist, people who hold nonconformist views try to avoid
them, which results in the aggressive conformist, who is often well-meaning, to never realize how big of an impact their behavior has on the debate and other people. I know because I take a lot of nonconformist stances on controversial topics and get dms from people who agree
but will never say so publicly.
Covid, since day one, has repeatedly shown the the mainstream viewpoint whether it is:
1. It’s a flu
2. Blocking Chinese travellers is racist
3. Masks don’t work
4. Lab origin is a conspiracy
5. Vaccines are perfect
And many more…
Has shown
Covid, since day one, has repeatedly shown the the mainstream viewpoint whether it is:
1. It’s a flu
2. Blocking Chinese travellers is racist
3. Masks don’t work
4. Lab origin is a conspiracy
5. Vaccines are perfect
And many more…
Has shown
that the mainstream viewpoint is not only often totally wrong but also harmful.
When the aggressive conformist sees these views that do not conform to these viewpoints they do some combination of:
- encourage deletion/censorship
- label the holder of the view perjoratively
When the aggressive conformist sees these views that do not conform to these viewpoints they do some combination of:
- encourage deletion/censorship
- label the holder of the view perjoratively
- Go on personal attack
When they do this they discourage other people from taking similar nonconformist views which results in important information either never coming out or being delayed which can be harmful.
When they do this they discourage other people from taking similar nonconformist views which results in important information either never coming out or being delayed which can be harmful.
These people don’t realize how easy it is to hold the conventional opinion of the time and how hard it is to hold its opposite. Nonconformist views pose big economic consequences to the holders, ranging from loss of friends to ban from social media to loss of job.
When people shout them down instead of having a calm conversation about the topic without judgement, we get a environment of de facto censorship.
The solution to alleged bad speech is not censorship is more speech.
The solution to alleged bad speech is not censorship is more speech.
The solution to the misinformation spread by a tabloid newspaper is the better newspaper on the same shelf, not to ask the grocery store to cross out the articles that didn’t meet their fact checking standards.
So, please, let’s all be a little more open minded. We can talk about the issues politely and rationally without getting personal, taking sides, and creating an environment where people are afraid to say what’s true because a vocal mob thinks otherwise.
/end rant
/end rant
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