Monday, June 19, 2017

[duxsarjz] Words for power or truth

Speech can be used to search for truth, or to try to acquire power (usually at the expense of whoever currently has power).  It is difficult to distinguish between them, and there is often a lot of overlap, e.g., speech to expose the lies perpetuated by those in power.

The purpose of censorship is often (probably always) about the power side of the issue.  It has this double edged sword effect of also inhibiting the search for truth.

For speech trying to acquire power, you might support free speech or support censorship depending on where your political preferences lie regarding who is currently in power and who is trying to acquire power with the speech.  Moreover, you should rationally support free speech or censorship accordingly (on a case by case basis), because speech does seem to be effective for acquiring power, and who's in power will affect your well-being.

Possibly we should work on decreasing the effectiveness of speech to acquire power.

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