Greg Lukianoff Discusses Free Speech at TED

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:

1. You are not safer for knowing LESS about what people really think.

2. Free Speech Cures Violence (Free Speech is the best alternative to violence).

3. Free Speech protects the powerless (free speech is the best check on power ever invented).

4. 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."

Continue ReadingGreg Lukianoff Discusses Free Speech at TED

Are You in a Cult?

James Lindsay suggests how to tell if you are in a cult:

I was asked in an interview yesterday what some signs are that you're in a cult. Here are the three best signs:

1) Ask yourself if you can support or defend someone the group doesn't like without fear. If not, you're in a cult.

2) Ask yourself what would happen if you left the group. If you'll be punished, shunned, and ostracized, you're in a cult.

3) Ask yourself what would happen if you expressed a moderating opinion within the group. If you'd be punished, bullied, or shamed, you're in a cult.

Most cults today aren't Jonestown or the Moonies. They're online phenomena headed by "influencers." By failing to recognize where and how cults form in the era of social media, we leave ourselves very vulnerable to their malicious tactics."

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Douglas Murray’s Insists that Regular Folks Should Shut the Fuck Up and Leave Commentary to “Experts” who have “Standards.” Jimmy Dore Responds

Douglas Murray, who tanked on Rogan, wants "standards" and complete reliance on "experts." Jimmy Dore reviews the track record of the expert class and their legacy media stenographers. I largely agree with Dore. The legacy media has almost zero credibility and the proof is in their track record. Those who still trust legacy media are infected with a mind virus. Murray claims he is for words he has sanitized: "Standards" and "experts." When Dave Smith drilled down on what Murray meant, it was clear that Murray wants the same thing the censorship-industrial complex wants: obedience by you and me and censorship for those who disagree with Murray.  Dore:

New York Post Article by Douglas Murray: 'Douglas Murray, so called Israel Hamas-Ukraine war expert's spew false info on Joe Rogan's podcast. There has to be a standard.' There is no standard in journalism. How about you start with the standard for journalism? Journalism got everything wrong about COVID. They got everything wrong about Russiagate. They get everything wrong about the Iraq War, the Libyan war, the Afghanistan War and the Ukraine war. They still won't tell people how it started and why. They've got everything wrong. They got the biggest story of their life wrong: COVID. They got ivermectin wrong. They got the vaccine transmission and contraction wrong. They got where the virus came from, who funded the virus. They got everything wrong. They got lockdowns wrong. They got masks wrong. There wasn't a thing they didn't get wrong. You know who got it right? Joe Rogan's Show. You know who got Russiagate right? This show.

You don't have to be an expert to know when someone's lying. To know when the war machine is lying, all I had to do is use my common sense. This is the establishment media and the Zionists losing. This is the Neocons losing the argument and so they want to shut people up by saying, "You don't get a right to say anything. We have to impose some standards." There's no standards when it comes to the establishment, corporate journalism. There's zero standards. They lie as they breathe. There isn't a thing they haven't lied about about, about COVID. There isn't a thing they didn't lie about, about Russiagate. There isn't a thing they didn't lie about January 6. There isn't a thing they haven't lied about when it comes to Ukraine war, Iraq War, the Libyan war, the Syrian war. The Afghanistan war was 20 years of straight lies as the Afghan Papers reveal. This idea that the corporate media has some sort of standards is a lie.

Dore aligned himself with Democrats until recent years, supporting Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 202. So did I (I canvassed for Sanders). Also voicing support for democrats until it went over the cliff on ideology/war/censorship/shitting on the middle class: Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, RFK, Jr. , Joe Rogan, Kyrsten Sinema.

Here is the Rogan Podcast featuring Douglas Murray and Dave Smith. Watch it and make up your own mind, of course. But here, in my opinion, are two examples of  Murray arguing in bad faith. Murray is a guy who pontificates on anything and everything based on his English Degree. He gets almost all of his information from armchair adventures, just like you and me and most everyone else.

Continue ReadingDouglas Murray’s Insists that Regular Folks Should Shut the Fuck Up and Leave Commentary to “Experts” who have “Standards.” Jimmy Dore Responds

About Douglas Murray, “Experts” and War

I've often enjoyed listening to Douglas Murray, but he seems to have gone off the rails for two reasons: A) His enthusiasm for war as a solution to complex disputes and B) His wish to control the free flow of information between other people based on his claim that we need to shut up and rely on "experts," by which I assume he means credentialed experts.

In this segment, Joe Rogan and Dave Smith dismantle Murray with simple questions. Watch him dart to a new topic whenever he is challenged.

I would agree with Saagar Enjeti's description:

And here's a glaring irony pointed out by Enjeti:

As Dave Smith points out, during the pandemic, the "experts" got almost everything wrong. Murray has no response. The COVID error would include many of the following:

Here's a bigger irony. If only "experts" should weigh in on complex and important topics of the day, what does that say about democracy? Most of us voters are unwashed masses, uncredentialed in most things, yet we are asked to cast votes that will determine the fate of our country. Murray's attitude can be seen playing out in the EU (and elsewhere, including the US), where people are increasingly being denied the chance to vote for the candidates they support.

I'll end with this post by Mike Benz:

Continue ReadingAbout Douglas Murray, “Experts” and War