Greg Lukianoff began his TED talk with this: “2023 and 2024 were the two worst years for mob censorship and shout downs on record.”
He then offered these Four Truths about free speech:
- You are not safer for knowing LESS about what people really think.
- Free Speech Cures Violence (Free Speech is the best alternative to violence)..
- Free Speech protects the powerless (free speech is the best check on power ever invented).
- Even “bad” people can have good ideas (and good people aren’t always right). (“Just because I hate your guts doesn’t mean you are wrong.”) (“The way we figure out truth … doesn’t work if you just talk to people your already agree with.”).
Greg ended his talk with this gem:
“To understand the world it’s crucial to know what people really think . . . For that, we need free speech.”
