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Journal by khallow
A couple days back, we had a reapplication of the flawed idea of the paradox of tolerance - the idea, promulgated by philosopher Karl Popper, that if a community or society tolerates intolerance then it will eventually become an intolerant society - the alleged paradox is that tolerance leads to intolerance.

I disputed the idea then, but I think it's worthy of a more thorough thrashing. So I'll start with this post of mine from 2018:

Idiots like J-Mo aren't equipped to handle Popper's Paradox of Tolerance.

There is no paradox of tolerance. Let's recall what Popper actually wrote on the paradox:

Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.

Tolerating intolerant beliefs doesn't imply that one tolerates murder in the streets. While there may be ameliorating context outside of this paragraph, Popper commits a serious slippery slope fallacy here that tolerating intolerant beliefs then segues into tolerating physical attacks and such even though by no stretch of the imagination are they legitimate means of discourse, and then equates any flavor of intolerant belief with the subset of intolerance that settles disagreement with violence. Finally, he doesn't consider how this intolerance can be abused. I think we're seeing a taste of it today, where rival beliefs can be declared to be "intolerant" (often without regard for the content of the beliefs) and hence, fair game for preemptive intolerance.

That I think is the paradox of intolerance of intolerance. Once you do it, you and your beliefs fall solidly in the category of things against which you are supposedly intolerant. You should be intolerant of yourself and your beliefs! Not going to happen in practice, of course.

Instead a far better approach (one which I might add has been rather successful with respect to dealing with discrimination in the workplace) is to tolerate the belief, but don't tolerate the observable, harmful behavior. That eliminates most of the Orwellian facets of the Popper approach. Often it also means that you don't have to care what people believe. If someone assaults another, it doesn't matter what either of them believed (except perhaps as a means to further demonstrate guilt of the attacker in court).

Let's consider that quote a bit. First, I'm quoting it out of context so there might be some nuance I'm missing. But so has everyone else who brings it up. My rebuttal is to the bare argument, but I think that reasonable given that no one else goes any further.

The core of my rebuttal is in the paragraph after the above quote. There are three serious flaws in the quote that need to be considered. First, a slippery slope argument that assumes the presence of intolerance will eventually avalanche into widespread intolerance. A rival viewpoint here is that exposure to tolerance can make the intolerant more tolerant.

Second, there is an conflation of intolerance with violence. However, this doesn't explain cultures that are intolerant in various non-violent ways. For example, there are a variety of pacifist, isolationist religions (for example, Amish and Hutterites). They qualify as intolerant since they eschew a great of contact with the outside world, but that intolerance never rises to the level of violence, much less the "fists and pistols" of the Popper narrative.

Finally, is the whole problem with this idea, the paradox of intolerance of intolerance. Sorry, just because your bigotry is against some out-group that happens to be intolerant (or worse, wrongly perceived to be intolerant) just means that you're engaging in the very same intolerance. It's not only hypocritical, it's continuing the problem.

My take is that engagement is the better approach. Consider this. Every wacko cult follows similar playbooks: they isolate their followers from the rest of the world so that everyone is in the same screwy environment. Only the true believers are allowed to interact with the outside world in any way. Many other intolerant beliefs operate in the same way - creating an "us versus them" mythology, echo chambers, and similar means to cut off the believers from exposure to experiences that could undermine the beliefs. The strategy of intolerance versus such believers enforces this isolation. It makes the problems of intolerance worse.

So not only is the paradox of tolerance critically flawed on multiple levels, it makes the basic problem of intolerance worse.

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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:06AM (47 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:06AM (#1260706)

    My take is that engagement is the better approach.

    vs.

     In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:42AM (#1260709)

      beat me to it lol

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:56AM (45 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:56AM (#1260711) Journal
      Sorry, those are very different approaches once you acquire reading comprehension. What part of "I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies" implies that he'll usually default to tolerance concerning said "intolerant philosophies"?
      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @05:05AM (23 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @05:05AM (#1260714)

        #FreeAristarchus! For the freezy peaches!

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:53AM (21 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:53AM (#1260781) Journal
          Keep in mind that aristarchus wasn't banned for his speech, but for repeatedly causing harm on SN, such as through doxxing and modbombing with sock puppet accounts. This brings me to my obvious rebuttal to the paradox as Popper presented it - tolerate the speech, not the multiple felonies.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:45PM (15 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @04:45PM (#1260847)

            Doxxing is not illegal, just ask Fox who doxxed an abortion doctor for saving a 10 year old rape victim.

            Why is it always lies and projection from rightwingers? Unban Aristarchus, or ban Runaway for his sock puppeting and stochastic terrorism.

            • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday July 14 2022, @05:10PM (14 children)

              by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @05:10PM (#1260858) Journal

              In which state? Which country or state applies to you? Is it where you are now? Is it where your IP is registered? Is it the state of Delaware where SN is incorporated? Is the state in which the target lives? Is it where the servers are located? (Assange?)

              Incitement to commit violence IS an offence. So is assisting in the execution of an assault - in the UK it is known as aiding and abetting. Now, IANAL, but some lawyers may argue the words that have been used amount to incitement. The most mild of them was "Why doesn't someone beat some sense into him?"

              Some have been quoting literacy masterpieces as though they make a case for past actions. I will quote a film as to why your claims don't amount to much - "Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do you?"

              However, as we can see no justifiable reason for doxxing no matter what the law may say - we are a private site and we can refuse access to anyone we choose.

              • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:13PM (13 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:13PM (#1260870)

                Nice change of tactics, you only reinforce that you will defend the promotion of political terrorism. Ban them both, Runaway can create a new persona and stay away his domestic terrorism fetish. This is simple stuff here, and it is curious how far you'll go to excuse literal terrorist messaging.

                • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:34PM (12 children)

                  by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:34PM (#1260879) Journal

                  promotion of political terrorism

                  As I have stated elsewhere - it is entirely legal for Runaway to say what he does in his journals. Representatives say it. TV stations say it. Newspapers print it. A former president shouts it out every opportunity he gets.

                  Why does the fact that it 'offends you' mean that Runaway cannot say it too? You are not for free speech - you are only for free speech for those who agree with you. That is NOT free speech.

                  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:00PM (11 children)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:00PM (#1260899)

                    The point was doxxing is not illegal, and your excuse for Runaway is that Fox, Trump, and other assholes engage in promoting terrorism so why can Runaway?

                    Now it turns out that Fox doxxed an abortion doctor, so your excuse for banning aristarchus but not runaway falls flat.

                    Both are wrong, yet you allow one under the guise of free speech. You ban the other because "we have standards."

                    Conclusion: you defend white supremacism.

                    To resolve this bit of hypocrisy I suggest banning Runaway. Alternatively you could unban Aristarchus. Either way you should update the rules, make them easily found from the front page with a single click, and enforce the rules with the banhammer. Or not, and allow the trolls to win.

                    So which path will you take janrinok? Integrity or hypocrisy?

                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:05PM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:05PM (#1260900)

                      "why cant Runaway" near the top

                    • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday July 14 2022, @10:02PM (7 children)

                      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @10:02PM (#1260924) Journal

                      I haven't supported Fox's actions in doxxing a doctor. So I cannot have used it as a defence. Fox, Trump, Representatives all repeat the same things that Runaway posts in his journal. As unpleasant as that my be, it is legal. The rest of your argument falls flat as it is based on a false premise, namely that I support the doxxing of a doctor - which I do not.

                      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:04PM (6 children)

                        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:04PM (#1260933)

                        Your defence was "Fox does it" therefore the doxxing they have done is fair game by your logic. You've already buried yourself by appealing to legality, but I'm sure enough people will soothe your ego with "ari doxxing bad" that you'll forget or stop caring that your hypocrisy is very evident.

                        If runaway's pro-terrorism speech is fine because legally Fox does the same thing, than ari's doxxing is fine because Fox does the same thing. You seem incapable of saying "I don't care if runaway posts death threats." All your excuses fall flat when it is keeps coming down to your own judgment call after your legality excuses fail.

                        To be clear, I do not support either activity and just want consistent application of rules. Doxxing is bad, instigating mass murder is worse.

                        • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday July 15 2022, @04:09AM (5 children)

                          by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @04:09AM (#1260990) Journal

                          Please point out where I mentioned Fox News. I didn't. You introduced it.

                          I said TV stations. I did not say I supported any doxxing actions by anybody. There is only one person on this site who has supported doxxing. It wasn't me.

                          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:38PM (4 children)

                            by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:38PM (#1261619)

                            Got it.

                            Doxxing is not allowed.

                            Genocidal threats are free speech and nithing you can do about it.

                            That clears things up, thanks.

                            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2022, @07:06PM (3 children)

                              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2022, @07:06PM (#1261790)

                              Oooh the trolls are angry janrinok's hypocrisy is pointed out. Is the point of SN to allow fascist rhetoric under the guise of free speech? I can't figure out any other interpretation. Almost pulled it off since everyone hates doxxing, but pretty sure killing 50 million progressives is worse than someone knowing where Runaway1956 lives. Janrinok stated in other threads that Republican politicians routinely spout such evil yet are not arrested for it, so Runaway's threat must be tolerated. Then Fox News doxxes a doctor so janrinok's logic got turned on its head. He either must admit doxxing is fine since he allows genicidal threats, or he buries himself deeper in denials saying he never mentioned Fox, and is technically correct since it was in a different thread. My bad, he still admits the reality but will not back down on ari's ban or ban runaway the nazi. Terrible stuff for SN.

                              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday July 20 2022, @04:16AM (2 children)

                                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 20 2022, @04:16AM (#1261885) Journal

                                but pretty sure killing 50 million progressives is worse than someone knowing where Runaway1956 lives.

                                Well, how often does Runaway do that? If he's killing 50 million progressives every weekend, then that's excessive and he really should cut back.

                                • (Score: -1, Troll) by metatarchus on Friday July 29 2022, @12:39AM (1 child)

                                  by metatarchus (17809) on Friday July 29 2022, @12:39AM (#1263521)

                                  khallow and janrinok support white supremacism, by proxy if not directly.

                                  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 29 2022, @01:04AM

                                    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 29 2022, @01:04AM (#1263527) Journal
                                    So what? It's really mild white supremacy. Runaway knows to conserve his progressive resources and not overmurder them. Well, not all the time anyway.
                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @03:10AM

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @03:10AM (#1260981) Journal

                      The point was doxxing is not illegal

                      That is incorrect. Doxxing can be illegal under slander/libel laws for example.

                      Let's give a couple examples. Consider first this scenario: a citizen criticizes a town official at a public meeting and the local newspaper, allied to the politician, then proceeds to publish embarrassing public details about the citizen and their near relatives even though those details aren't newsworthy or relevant. In some places, the newspaper can be sued for libel.

                      Then there's the example of radio broadcasters coordinating massacres during the Rwandan genocide. A key aspect of that was broadcasting the location of target groups to be massacred. That's a classic doxxing tactic, but with a body count of hundreds of thousands to a million.

                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @12:41PM

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @12:41PM (#1261048) Journal

                      The point was doxxing is not illegal, and your excuse for Runaway is that Fox, Trump, and other assholes engage in promoting terrorism so why can Runaway?

                      That's not even coherent. You're mixing up doxxing, alleged promotion of terrorism, and mere speech. janrinok doesn't have to treat your garbage seriously.

                      So which path will you take janrinok? Integrity or hypocrisy?

                      It's clear that janrinok took the path of integrity and you took the path of hypocrisy, very incoherent hypocrisy. Your post underlines that choice.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:47PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:47PM (#1260945)

            repeatedly causing harm on SN... multiple felonies

            Lies. All he did was said a few things, that weren't even posted to this site as I understand the official story, and you dumbfucks lost your fucking minds.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @02:24AM

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @02:24AM (#1260966) Journal
              Needless to say, truth is an absolute defense against the accusation that something is lies.
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @03:12AM

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @03:12AM (#1260982) Journal
              Also in your selective quote, a lot happened in that "..." of your quote. You can't accuse someone of lying when it's quite clear that you don't understand what was meant by multiple felonies - I wasn't referring to actions by aristarchus.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2022, @04:09AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2022, @04:09AM (#1261221)

            Yes well what was akai.tsubasa banned for then?

            • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday July 16 2022, @05:36AM

              by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 16 2022, @05:36AM (#1261232) Journal

              Being the sock puppet of another account. Being controlled by someone who is banned. Moderation abuse - it was used to moderate other sock puppets under the control of the same person.

        • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2022, @08:47AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2022, @08:47AM (#1261257)

          Aristarchus, you were banned for doxxing Runaway, then for persistent disruption of SN with spam comments. Be honest enough to admit these things, which are plainly evident to many people here.

          You say that you support free speech but your actions say otherwise. You doxxed Runaway with the goal of intimidating him into self-censoring what he posts. Self-censorship is still censorship, and it has a chilling effect on free speech.

          I'm the AC who called you Ahab. While you've always been, shall we say, a unique poster, you contributed useful content. People who disagreed with you still respected and defended you. Then you became so obsessed with Runaway, your white whale, that you caused your own downfall. You are familiar with ancient Greece, meaning that you are undoubtedly familiar with the literary form of tragedy. That describes you, becoming so concerned with bringing about the fall of Runaway that you instead caused your own downfall.

          Spock said that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. In that sense, it is preferable to take action to prevent you from posting disruptive content and to also stop APK's disruptive behavior for the benefit of many other users.

          If you would like your story to have another act, it should be to repent and try to regain what you have lost. That would begin with an honest admission of what you have done and a commitment to not repeating the actions that led to your downfall. So far, you have shown no interest in doing so.

          Have you ever seen the episode of Star Trek: Voyager called Bliss? It involves a telepathic space creature that tricks other beings into seeing their fantasies while they are actually being devoured by the creature. At no point is there any indication that the creature is actually intelligent. It's basically a Venus flytrap in space that uses telepathy instead of scents to attract its prey. Qatai helps Voyager escape from the creature, but is obsessed with killing the creature to the point that he cannot move on with his life. Even after a vast number of failed attempts to kill the creature, even as Voyager escapes and leaves to continue their journey toward the Alpha Quadrant, Qatai returns yet again to attempt to destroy the space creature. You are Qatai and Runaway is the creature.

          Shall I call you Qatairistarchus? Or will you demonstrate the self-awareness to see what you have become, and to change?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @09:35PM (20 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @09:35PM (#1260920)

        None of that quote-mined section does. That is probably why you mined out the first part of that in the first place instead of the second part which does. Same as the next sentence that further reinforces the idea of rational engagement first (as with the entire chapter and other writings on the subject). Same as it ever was from you. Take out a single part, often out of context, and then declare victory when it doesn't explain life, the Universe, and everything.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @02:53AM (19 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @02:53AM (#1260975) Journal

          None of that quote-mined section does.

          Nonsense. I find it remarkable that you can't get the difference between defaulting to tolerance and saying that usually he won't tolerate intolerance, but sometimes will. They are very different approaches.

          And there's more to the difference than that. For example, he wrote:

          for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument

          That situation is fine for me. Sure, "they" might not be prepared for rational argument, but I am. I would tolerate intolerance at the level of speech and belief because engagement on the level of rational argument can happen even if they don't want it. Meanwhile intolerating the intolerance means that you're enable this behavior by aiding them in isolating themselves away from rational argument.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @05:11AM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @05:11AM (#1261000)

            And then you do it again. It would be cute if it were not so obvious and done to death.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @12:00PM (2 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @12:00PM (#1261037) Journal
              Sorry, I addressed your point either here or in my original journal. In the journal, I pointed out that the very end, the part leading up to the fists and pistols thing is a slippery slope argument that also assumes that intolerant speech will lead to violence. Sorry, you (or perhaps some other AC) quoted stuff, but it doesn't back up your argument. Meanwhile I quoted stuff and it did back up my argument. You might want to think about why that happened. It's not woo on my end.
              • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2022, @01:25AM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2022, @01:25AM (#1261199)

                Of course not. Just because all woo is deception, doesn't mean all deception is woo. You may have quoted stuff that backed up your argument but we all know the real reason why you chose to leave out the parts that do not support your argument, here and elsewhere. Then you get to pretend like they don't exist or redefine them however you want free of restraint. It is your primary modus operandi: to abuse Aunt Sally rather than the men of steel. If you want to attack other formulations of the paradox of tolerance or invent your own version of it, that is fine. But don't pretend like you are arguing against Popper's, especially after admitting (for once) that you are not, or against your opponents after substituting your own version for theirs. When multiple people call you out on it, perhaps it is time for some self-reflection as to your actions, even if they are inadvertent.

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday July 16 2022, @01:30AM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 16 2022, @01:30AM (#1261200) Journal

                  You may have quoted stuff that backed up your argument but we all know the real reason why you chose to leave out the parts that do not support your argument, here and elsewhere. Then you get to pretend like they don't exist or redefine them however you want free of restraint.

                  How can I redefine what I don't talk about? Why would I even be interested in trying? Sounds like you got a surplus of woo there.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @08:59PM (14 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @08:59PM (#1261144)

            Sure, "they" might not be prepared for rational argument, but I am.

            <rolls eyes>

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @11:58PM (13 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @11:58PM (#1261183) Journal
              Looks like you'll need more time.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 17 2022, @10:40PM (12 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 17 2022, @10:40PM (#1261482)

                Oh, don't worry, I don't need any more time to decide what to think about your "rational arguments". But, by all means, if it makes you feel better to think of yourself as the misunderstood, courageously principled hero in your own inner self-narrative, well...who am I to object?

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @01:32PM (11 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @01:32PM (#1261547) Journal

                  Oh, don't worry, I don't need any more time to decide what to think about your "rational arguments". But, by all means, if it makes you feel better to think of yourself as the misunderstood, courageously principled hero in your own inner self-narrative, well...who am I to object?l

                  I don't know who you are, but I can clearly see you objected. And how long have you been saying this same thing over and over without once sayingwhy. I heard this song and dance with very similar wording before with the same lack of reason. I think there's a simple phrase that describes what's happening to you - cognitive dissonance.

                  It's not just the objecting while pretending not to. My take is that you need me to be this narcissistic straw man. That's why you never describe the alleged problems or offer solutions. You don't actually want me to change.

                  I think this whining is ridiculous. I dared voice what I actually do in the real world and somehow it becomes a silly self- narrative. Don't you have something better to do?

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @05:01PM (10 children)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @05:01PM (#1261590)

                    I don't know who you are, but I can clearly see you objected.

                    What I "object" to is your notion that, while some nebulous "they" are not prepared for rational argument, you are. The very idea is laughable. I can't count the number of times I have tried to reason with you only to walk away with the unfortunate realization that you can't be reasoned with.

                    And how long have you been saying this same thing over and over without once sayingwhy.

                    Over at least the last few years, any number of us have been telling you why we disagree with you. You just ignore, deflect, and misdirect. So, please don't suggest that we haven't bothered to engage with you. The lack of engagement is on your part.

                    I think there's a simple phrase that describes what's happening to you - cognitive dissonance.

                    The "cognitive dissonance" is entirely yours. Look, I get that you would like to believe that you are the hero in your own inner morality play, but out here in the real world it doesn't quite...track. I can see how that could create a bit of cognitive dissonance in your inner thought life. But that is your problem, not mine.

                    My take is that you need me to be this narcissistic straw man.

                    Need? No, we don't need any more narcissists in this world, thank you very much. There are already plenty of those around; too many, actually. You are just one more to add to the mix. So, don't flatter yourself too much.

                    I think this whining is ridiculous.

                    I'm not "whining". I'm mocking you. There is a world of difference.

                    I dared voice what I actually do in the real world and somehow it becomes a silly self- narrative.

                    The silliness comes from your assertion that you style yourself as some sort of champion of "rational argument". Many (most?) of us here on SN know better.

                    Don't you have something better to do?

                    I could ask the exact same thing of you, sir. My suspicion is that, in your case, the answer is no.

                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @05:52PM (9 children)

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @05:52PM (#1261599) Journal

                      What I "object" to is your notion that, while some nebulous "they" are not prepared for rational argument, you are. The very idea is laughable. I can't count the number of times I have tried to reason with you only to walk away with the unfortunate realization that you can't be reasoned with.

                      Currently we're at zero such times. I bet you can count higher than that. As before, I've heard this song and dance before.

                      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @06:17PM (8 children)

                        by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @06:17PM (#1261607)

                        Currently we're at zero such times.

                        Incorrect.

                        I bet you can count higher than that.

                        Indeed, I can.

                        As before, I've heard this song and dance before.

                        I'm sure you have. I just wonder when it is going to finally sink in through that thick, bony brow of yours.

                        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @06:54PM (7 children)

                          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @06:54PM (#1261612) Journal

                          Indeed, I can.

                          I don't see you doing it. Instead you seem to be generating a bunch of noise. That indicates incapability to me.

                          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:25PM (6 children)

                            by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:25PM (#1261615)

                            You had your chances and decided to burn every bridge. Why should anyone engage you after years of your dissembling bullshit? Whine away, but you made your own bed.

                            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @07:42PM (5 children)

                              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @07:42PM (#1261620) Journal
                              What bridges? I find your lack of details telling.

                              Why should anyone engage you after years of your dissembling bullshit?

                              Because it isn't.

                              I think what's shown in this thread is that I've engaged in the usual good faith, reasonable argument. Meanwhile an idiot, that would be you, spouts boilerplate about all the rational argument I supposedly am missing. The telling fact is that you have repeatedly refused to divulge even the slightest concrete detail or bit of evidence.

                              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:58PM (4 children)

                                by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:58PM (#1261623)

                                I think what's shown in this thread is that I've engaged in the usual good faith, reasonable argument.

                                HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
                                HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
                                HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
                                HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
                                HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

                                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @08:03PM (3 children)

                                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @08:03PM (#1261626) Journal
                                  And there we go again. Where's those details? Where's your proof?
                                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @08:24PM (2 children)

                                    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @08:24PM (#1261633)

                                    I've given you all the clues you need. The rest is up to you.

                                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 19 2022, @02:31AM (1 child)

                                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 19 2022, @02:31AM (#1261692) Journal

                                      I've given you all the clues you need. The rest is up to you.

                                      Indeed. The result though is that you are just generating noise. Perhaps, if you wished to communicate in good faith, you wouldn't have wasted our time with nonsense "clues".

                                      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 19 2022, @12:15PM

                                        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 19 2022, @12:15PM (#1261721) Journal
                                        Incidentally, this reminds me of a story. One of the roles of accounting for my employer is to record and audit sales numbers for locations they operate. Years back a bored member of the day audit staff deliberately inserted a mistake into their afternoon work for the night audit side to find. The guy found it after considerable work. He left a note for said member of the day staff. "I put one mistake in my work. You won't find it, but it is a doozy." He got called late next day by the department boss because the day staff person refused to submit their daily work until they found the mistake. Turns out there wasn't one!

                                        That goes on here. AC can babble all they want about clues and hints, whatnot. But they never reveal the answer. That informs me that this guessing game would be an utter waste of my time because there are no clues. But it gets worse than that. Even if there were said clues and I somehow guessed whatever the AC claims to be the answer, they could then change the answer on the spur of the moment. That's the second problem, it makes no sense to give such power to someone who argues in bad faith.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @05:19AM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @05:19AM (#1260718)

    I'm quoting it out of context so there might be some nuance I'm missing.

    You're not missing it. You're burying it on purpose.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:27AM (8 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @11:27AM (#1260774) Journal
      So you claim. So what is this relevant context, which you can't be bothered to mention?

      I'll just note that when I see people post or talk about paradox of tolerance, they usually don't even bother to go this far.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @10:54PM (7 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @10:54PM (#1260930)

        "I'm quoting it out of context"

        Umm. Dude? You said it, so you are uniquely qualified to inform us of the context you dropped. You know this, you just want other people to make comments you can crap on. Taking something out of context is almost universally a sign of bad faith. Be better fren.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @02:53AM (5 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @02:53AM (#1260976) Journal

          You said it, so you are uniquely qualified to inform us of the context you dropped.

          No, I'm not. I don't know what I don't know.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @04:34AM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @04:34AM (#1260995)

            Amazing.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @04:51AM

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @04:51AM (#1260999) Journal
              Sounds like it doesn't take much to amaze you.
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @12:09PM (2 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @12:09PM (#1261038) Journal
              To elaborate, I quote that section because that's what is online and where Popper's argument for paradox of intolerance is located. I haven't bothered to read the larger passage it is embedded in. That's it. As a result, I don't know what I could be missing. And nobody else seems to know either, probably for the same reason.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 17 2022, @10:52PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 17 2022, @10:52PM (#1261484)

                <sigh> You know, you could just go to the original source (hint: it comes from The Open Society and Its Enemies by Popper) and read it in it's original context, if it's that important to you. You can even find the entire book online, if you bother to look for it. (No, I'm not going to do any more of your homework for you.) No need to thank me. And have a nice day.

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @01:42PM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @01:42PM (#1261550) Journal

                  if it's that important to you.

                  I made it quite clear that wasn't that important to me. So why claim otherwise? I simply acknowledged there was a possible flaw in my argument. It's worth noting that nobody, including you, has bothered to show there's an actual flaw there.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 18 2022, @06:42PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 18 2022, @06:42PM (#1261611) Journal
          To add to my previous reply, note the non-sarcastic, prominent use of the word, "might". That indicates I was uncertain. So why are you demanding information from someone who just admitted they didn't have that information? Is this some of the rationality you think I'm missing?
  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:52AM (9 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:52AM (#1260736) Homepage Journal

    Popper and associates aspire to dictate what will be tolerated, and what will not be tolerated. Fuckem. Their charade will lead to censorship, persecution, and pogroms. Ready for the next holocaust?

    --
    Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:22AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:22AM (#1260741)

      Ready for the next holocaust?

      Nope. But I am ready to invoke Godwin's Law.

      In fact, your post expresses the same us versus them views that khallow is criticizing. Short of khallow making a reference to Hitler and Nazi Germany in his journal, which he didn't, your comment is the minimum possible number of comments to achieve a Godwin-ing.

      Instead of spreading fear and hyperbole about people you disagree with, perhaps you ought to work toward finding common ground. That is far more likely to break down the conformity and cult mentality that can ultimately lead to violence. It's about building meaningful relationships with people who are intolerant so that they are exposed to a diversity of beliefs instead of reinforcing their cult-like intolerance.

      Instead of breaking down the us versus them mentality that can reinforce intolerance and even lead to violence, you've decided to cast your political opponents as Nazis. Good work, Runaway.

      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:52AM (3 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:52AM (#1260744) Homepage Journal

        you've decided to cast your political opponents as Nazis.

        Where have you been for the last few years? Did you completely miss the constant refrains of "fascists" and "literally Hitler"? Have you missed the Antifa Brownshirts - ooops, Blackshirts? Are you completely unaware of identity politics, pushed exclusively by one party? Feelz before facts and all the rest of the nuttery?

        --
        Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:55AM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:55AM (#1260758)

          Oh, I'm well aware. I'm also aware that people like you whined incessantly about being labeled Nazis. But when the opportunity presents, you're happy to label the other side as Nazis.

          And that makes it all the more ironic that you accuse others of hypocrisy [soylentnews.org] and complain about it. Of course, I'm also talking to the person who claims to be pro-life while rooting for 50 million dead liberals. None of this is healthy, whether for discourse in general, or for your well-being.

          The problem is that you're not interested in finding common ground with the other side. You're afraid that if you tried to find common ground, you might learn that the "libs" aren't to be feared. They just disagree with you on some policy matters, but they agree on some things as well. You might find that the other side isn't the boogeyman that you believe it is. You might have to reconsider your world view. You've feared and hated the "libs" for so long that you're afraid to consider anything else. I hope you see the err of your ways, and that this intolerance isn't helping you.

          You can start by finding some common ground with the "libs." If you don't think you have any common ground, then you haven't looked for it at all.

          It's time to let go of the pain, the hatred, and the intolerance. You'll be glad you did.

          • (Score: 0, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 15 2022, @01:18AM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @01:18AM (#1260952) Homepage Journal

            Well then, I suppose you've never read 1984, or any of the other dystopian tales. You are unfamiliar with the role propaganda played in Russia or Germany, or China. Republicans didn't propose that the government create a ministry of truth, Democrats did that. Give such a gift to today's cancel culture, then tell me that about Godwin.

            --
            Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:02AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:02AM (#1260747)

      Sir Karl Popper, to you, you hillbilly imbecile! You do not even know who he was, nor do you care. You have your own opinion, which is as great as the greatest minds that ever walked the planet. Right, you are entitled to your opinion, as long as janrinok protects you, but you are still an ignorant moron, and your opinion is worthless.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:08AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @08:08AM (#1260749)

        Keep gobbling that royal cock ari. I'm sure it tastes better than common cock.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:36PM (#1260880)

          Sounds like the voice of experience.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @12:23AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @12:23AM (#1260951)

      These seem relevant to your interests. ICFI/SEP/IWA-RFC:

      Marxism, history and the science of perspective [wsws.org]
      A Little History is a dangerous thing [wsws.org]
      A postmodernist attack on science [wsws.org]

  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:59AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:59AM (#1260746)

    I love you, khallow. Now shut the fuck up before I have to beat some sense into you. You know what I mean.

    Yours,
    aristarchus

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @10:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @10:15AM (#1260766)

    Objective harm done by the intolerant is.

    The "paradox" is contrived, and stems from the hidden assumption that harming others in the name of one's beliefs is an inescapable part of having them. Once we accept that it is NOT, neither to do the harm, nor to be the harmed, nor to allow others be harmed, then the "paradox" disappears in a puff of logic.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Thursday July 14 2022, @01:38PM (3 children)

    by hendrikboom (1125) on Thursday July 14 2022, @01:38PM (#1260800) Homepage Journal

    Tolerance is not a moral precept [extranewsfeed.com]

    This isn't where I first saw this article, but I've been unable to find the original posting.

    The title of this essay should disturb you. We have been brought up to believe that tolerating other people is one of the things you do if you’re a nice person — whether we learned this in kindergarten or from Biblical maxims like “love your neighbor as yourself” and “do unto others.”

    But if you have ever tried to live your life this way, you will have seen it fail: “Why won’t you tolerate my intolerance?” This comes in all sorts of forms: accepting a person’s actively antisocial behavior because it’s just part of being an accepting group of friends; being told that prejudice against Nazis is the same as prejudice against Black people; watching people try to give “equal time” to a religious (or irreligious) group whose guiding principle is that everyone must join them or else.
    ....

    The article goes on to explain; go read it.

    .

    There is some discussion of this article elsewhere on the net.

    Tolerance Is A Peace Treaty And A Social Compact, Nothing More [mikethemadbiologist.com]

    And this discussion on Reddit [reddit.com] makes the point that religion was not the predominant cause of the European wars the article mentioned:

    It's become increasingly widely accepted in historical circles that while there were some religious motivations in the time period, they were not at all entirely religious war. In fact, the sheer number of cross-religious alliances in the wars of the period make it look like religion mattered less than it does in a lot of other wars. Instead, it was predominantly political wars using religious differences as an excuse to try to conquer or overthrow governments.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:12PM (1 child)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:12PM (#1260869) Journal
      As to the title of the article, if tolerance is a moral precept, then it is no matter how much the author disagrees. Also, I see the usual focus on behavior not speech or beliefs. I already covered that. Behavior that causes harm is not tolerated.

      The second link is interesting, but not for what it contains. When I started this journal I thought of paradox of tolerance as another failed concept like the social contract. Funny that someone from the other side of the fence feels similarly to the point of tying the two together.

      As to the reddit discussion, I think that shows a lack of understanding of religious wars. Not a one has a clean separation of religious zeal from the mundane and self-serving. My take is that there was a substantial increase in the size and severity of warfare. Disruption due to religious schism was the driver, even if the goals of the wars were brutally mercenary.
      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @02:57AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @02:57AM (#1260977) Journal

        Disruption due to religious schism was the driver

        Thinking about it more, I'd have to include technological innovation - such as killing off generations of nobility or the increased power of central states which are more able to sustain the brutal wars of the period.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:14PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:14PM (#1260888)
      WW2 Germany:
      First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
      Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
      Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
      Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
      (Martin Niemöller)

      Modern Germany:
      First they came for the Nazis, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Nazi.
      And so far it's been better than average hasn't it? ;)
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:18PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @07:18PM (#1260890)

    As an engineer I'm barely a student of philosophy, but this story may be instructive?

    In kindergarten I was an oddity -- my family didn't attend any church/temple/etc, we didn't have a TV, and we had nothing to do with ball sports (sports car racing was the family sport). I was and still am very tolerant and non-violent, brought up with the Golden Rule. Things that seem to irritate many people around me don't usually bother me, I just let them be.

    I suspect that these traits were part of the reason that I was teased/bullied frequently by a kindergarten classmate--I was an "other" to him. One day during recess this must have irritated my 5 year old self enough that I swung and gave the bully a bloody nose, a real gusher. I was at least as surprised as he was and I was pretty upset & apologetic at having hurt him. There was a lecture by the teacher and the assistant principal (which I've mostly forgotten) and that was the extent of the incident.

    The interesting things happened later. I went all the way through 12th grade with that bully in my class and he never bothered me again. At least once I overheard him telling one of his cohort to leave me alone, something about me having a good left hook? He did remain a bully (as I witnessed from afar) and turned into one of the biggest guys on the high school football team (American football).

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @02:58AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @02:58AM (#1260978) Journal
      Nobody including Popper was supporting tolerance of violence or harm. I know that there are pacifist ideologies that do such tolerance, but none of that was on display here.
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @12:25PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @12:25PM (#1261043) Journal
    As I mentioned, the paradox of tolerance is used repeated to argue for suppression of free speech. Here are multiple examples from SN or linked from SN: Here: [soylentnews.org]

    [Opportunist:] Most people will be familiar with the paradox of tolerance [wikipedia.org]. What it means is that if you're tolerant of intolerance, intolerance will eventually prevail.

    The same is true for free speech. As we can already see on other online media, from Twitter to Reddit to YouTube and beyond, state actors are in an information war. Anyone who hasn't been offline the past 5 or even 10 years will have noticed that we are being bombarded with more than just questionable material, with dubious veracity or outright lies.

    Here: [soylentnews.org]

    [AC:] More SN user start to see the alt-right problem that has been pointed out since the beginning. Allowing all the racist shitposting for years is what allowed all this drama to get so bad. Suggest everyone check out The Paradox of Tolerance.

    Webcomic [skepchick.org] (cited here [soylentnews.org] by Grishnakh):

    Any movement that preaches intolerance and persecution must be outside the law. As paradoxical as it may seem, defending tolerance ... requires to not tolerate the intolerance.

    [ikanreed:] If you're a fucking nazi, I am right and you are wrong and have no place here. Same for monarchists or fascists or any other ideology that has the dismantling of freedom and equality as core ideological positions. Paradox of tolerance is long-since a solved problem, and it involves telling fascists to shut the fuck up

    Here: [soylentnews.org]

    [Azuma Hazuki:] I am not tolerant of people who don't deserve it, and actually not all that "left" on some issues either. Don't make me trot out Popper's Paradox of Tolerance again, damn it all. This goes well beyond simple politics. All the smug veneer of outward civility you project can't hide your stenching interior from anyone who's got eyes to see it. You sit and tremble over your own child, while supporting a President who cages other peoples'. You can go to Hell.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 15 2022, @12:27PM (1 child)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 15 2022, @12:27PM (#1261044) Journal
      Link [soylentnews.org] to the ikanreed quote.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 17 2022, @03:02PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 17 2022, @03:02PM (#1261440)

        Don't break your brain on the paradox part. Ut requires some mebtal flexibility to comprehend, take it slow little buddy.

  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday July 16 2022, @12:43AM (10 children)

    by acid andy (1683) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 16 2022, @12:43AM (#1261191) Homepage Journal

    A good effort khallow and thanks for bringing back a bit more of the philosophy to SoylentNews.

    Popper commits a serious slippery slope fallacy here that tolerating intolerant beliefs then segues into tolerating physical attacks and such even though by no stretch of the imagination are they legitimate means of discourse, and then equates any flavor of intolerant belief with the subset of intolerance that settles disagreement with violence.

    A physical attack isn't a legitimate means of discourse but some kinds of discourse lead directly to such attacks, and I do not see him equating all kinds of intolerant discourse with those: he says "it may easily turn out", not it "will always turn out".

    That I think is the paradox of intolerance of intolerance. Once you do it, you and your beliefs fall solidly in the category of things against which you are supposedly intolerant. You should be intolerant of yourself and your beliefs! Not going to happen in practice, of course.

    Only true if you are intolerant of ALL intolerance. That's precisely why we need to define the limits, to avoid the paradox. Popper gives a great example of a coherent limit: the point where the dialog leads to an unethical and physically harmful action! It doesn't matter that such an action isn't strictly part of the dialog.

    --
    Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday July 16 2022, @01:22AM (9 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 16 2022, @01:22AM (#1261197) Journal

      Only true if you are intolerant of ALL intolerance.

      There are other ways: for example, intolerance way out of proportion to the intolerance target, or poor discernment - intolerating things that aren't genuine intolerance.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:28PM (8 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18 2022, @07:28PM (#1261617)

        Sounds like you are looking for a problem that doesn't exist. Always seems to come down to wanting people to tolerate nazis. No thanks ;^]

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 19 2022, @02:38AM (7 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 19 2022, @02:38AM (#1261693) Journal

          Sounds like you are looking for a problem that doesn't exist.

          Why would you say that? I noted, for example, a number [soylentnews.org] of Soylentils that have used the paradox of tolerance argument in stances against the free speech of the alleged intolerant. While I haven't tried to link to similar attitudes beyond SN, I do see the argument on occasion. That indicates some degree of problem.

          Always seems to come down to wanting people to tolerate nazis.

          Depends what you mean by "tolerate". If you mean, give them special rights, nobody is asking for that. If instead you mean, not actively suppress the speech of nazis and break public discourse just to keep nazis out, then not only do I want you to tolerate nazis, it is your responsibility as a member of a democratic country - including Europe - to tolerate them.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2022, @07:13PM (6 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2022, @07:13PM (#1261791)

            So you support unbanning Aristarchus? Should the apk spam be tolerated?

            Many times it had been pointed out by staff and users that SN does not owe anyone a platform and is well within their rights to ban users and spam mod comments. So all you've done here is whine that nazis are not wanted. No shit, no one wants nazis and their 1st amendment rights are not under attack until government agents attack and imprison the poor crybaby nazis.

            Seriously khallow, you only come off as a defender of nazis and it isn't even a valid 1A issue at play. The only way to logically extract yourself from this mess is to unban aristarchus or retract your statement and agree that SN is not the place for 100% unrestricted speech. The site already has a code of conduct, and nazi scum easily fit under "filth."

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 19 2022, @11:28PM (5 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 19 2022, @11:28PM (#1261830) Journal

              So you support unbanning Aristarchus? Should the apk spam be tolerated?

              Do you? aristarchus and APK went beyond mere speech with very abusive behavior that hurt other people.

              Many times it had been pointed out by staff and users that SN does not owe anyone a platform and is well within their rights to ban users and spam mod comments.

              The fallacy here is that because some organization has rights to do this, that they should do whatever whim you think they should do.

              Seriously khallow, you only come off as a defender of nazis and it isn't even a valid 1A issue at play.

              The US First Amendment is not the only manifestation of free speech.

              The only way to logically extract yourself from this mess is to unban aristarchus or retract your statement and agree that SN is not the place for 100% unrestricted speech.

              Or for you to acknowledge that aristarchus wasn't a free speech issue.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2022, @07:47AM (4 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2022, @07:47AM (#1261892)

                So you're saying there ade times when intolerance should nit be tolerated. Hope you learned the lesson, but I suspect you always knew it and just want to whine about people not liking your bullshit. Intolerance is fine when you like it. Ready to condemn yhe insurrection yet? Woops I'm sorry, did I assume your reality?

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday July 20 2022, @12:01PM (3 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 20 2022, @12:01PM (#1261903) Journal

                  So you're saying there ade times when intolerance should nit be tolerated.

                  Of course. If you had been paying attention you would have noticed this long ago. For example, in response to the quote from Popper:

                  Tolerating intolerant beliefs doesn't imply that one tolerates murder in the streets.

                  One tolerates speech and beliefs. One doesn't tolerate harmful behavior. It's not rocket surgery nor something that I just suddenly adopted (that quote is from 2018, remember?).

                  but I suspect you always knew it and just want to whine about people not liking your bullshit. Intolerance is fine when you like it. Ready to condemn yhe insurrection yet? Woops I'm sorry, did I assume your reality?

                  Nope. You just can't be bothered to reconcile reality with this cool narrative you have. First, the narrative of the insurrection doesn't actually have evidence for it. We've gone through this before. Here's just a random sample: A police officer didn't get his head bashed in with a fire extinguisher. There were very few fire arms at the alleged insurrection. The gallows that Mike Pence was going be hanged on was just a cheap prop. Only one person died from violence and they were an idiot. Prosecutors had to search hard to find anyone who planned anything. The January 6 committee seems to be obsessing over illegally deleted texts from the critical period, but apparently hasn't found anything interesting. It goes on and on with ludicrous propaganda talking points devastated by reality. It was just a protest and the people who are documented to have broken laws are in the process of facing justice.

                  No similar protest or violence happened since either. Sorry, I'm not interested in your hysterias and I'm not going to contribute to your pointless two minute hate when there isn't even a target for it.

                  Further, these people weren't nazis. So right there, I'm defending someone who isn't a nazi - which breaks a previous narrative talking point. At this point, I don't care what you "suspect" because you're clearly following some irrelevant straw man narrative that doesn't involve me at all.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2022, @04:20PM (2 children)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2022, @04:20PM (#1261955)

                    Ok nazi lover

                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 21 2022, @03:05AM (1 child)

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 21 2022, @03:05AM (#1262044) Journal
                      Pfft, the only reason you couldn't pull off Nazi is that you're a sloppy dresser.
                      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2022, @08:14PM

                        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2022, @08:14PM (#1262153)

                        Forgot to post as AC again kbuddy! Thanks for confirming your warm feelings towards nazis, is that why you're a park ranger? Have a burning need for a uniform and authority? #NotShocked

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2022, @05:59PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 20 2022, @05:59PM (#1261976)

    "So not only is the paradox of tolerance critically flawed on multiple levels, it makes the basic problem of intolerance worse."

    Liberals tried tolerance for decades. Republicans followed Russky Limpbaah's campaign of hate and obstruction, liberals kept tying to compromise. Years later nothing got better, conservatives started an illegitimate war (again), then Obama got elected and the racism was turned up to 11. Then trump came in with his blatant racism and the republicans turned into literal domestic terrorists.

    Shit, just on this site alone we saw nothing get better. Sometime during trump's grift we liberals had enough and decided to become intolerant of nazis, white supremacists, and good old greedy racists. Tolerance does nothing against those actively avoiding reality and only gives the domestic terrorists breathing room to plan their next coup.

    Of course you know all this, otherwise you wouldn't constantly come across as the textual version of tucker carlson's constipated confusion.

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