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“I saw a civilization that could destroy itself before it even reached the nearest star.”
― How High We Go in the Dark
― How High We Go in the Dark
“More specifically, this book will try to establish the following points. First, there are not two great liberal social and political systems but three. One is democracy—political liberalism—by which we decide who is entitled to use force; another is capitalism—economic liberalism—by which we decide how to allocate resources. The third is liberal science, by which we decide who is right. Second, the third system has been astoundingly successful, not merely as a producer of technology but also, far more important, as a peacemaker and builder of social bridges. Its great advantages as a social system for raising and settling differences of opinion are inherent, not incidental. However, its disadvantages—it causes pain and suffering, it creates legions of losers and outsiders, it is disorienting and unsettling, it allows and even thrives on prejudice and bias—are also inherent. And today it is once again under attack. Third, the attackers seek to undermine the two social rules which make liberal science possible. (I’ll outline them in the next chapter and elaborate them in the rest of the book.) For the system to function, people must try to follow those rules even if they would prefer not to. Unfortunately, many people are forgetting them, ignoring them, or carving out exemptions. That trend must be fought, because, fourth, the alternatives to liberal science lead straight to authoritarianism. And intellectual authoritarianism, although once the province of the religious and the political right in America, is now flourishing among the secular and the political left. Fifth, behind the new authoritarian push are three idealistic impulses: Fundamentalists want to protect the truth. Egalitarians want to help the oppressed and let in the excluded. Humanitarians want to stop verbal violence and the pain it causes. The three impulses are now working in concert. Sixth, fundamentalism, properly understood, is not about religion. It is about the inability to seriously entertain the possibility that one might be wrong. In individuals such fundamentalism is natural and, within reason, desirable. But when it becomes the foundation for an intellectual system, it is inherently a threat to freedom of thought. Seventh, there is no way to advance knowledge peacefully and productively by adhering to the principles advocated by egalitarians and humanitarians. Their principles are poisonous to liberal science and ultimately to peace and freedom. Eighth, no social principle in the world is more foolish and dangerous than the rapidly rising notion that hurtful words and ideas are a form of violence or torture (e.g., “harassment”) and that their perpetrators should be treated accordingly. That notion leads to the criminalization of criticism and the empowerment of authorities to regulate it. The new sensitivity is the old authoritarianism in disguise, and it is just as noxious.”
― Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
― Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
“Imagine walking into a control room with a bunch of people hunched over a desk with little dials, and that that control room will shape the thoughts and feelings of a billion people. This might sound like science fiction, but this actually exists right now, today.”
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“For not only is wiping out bias and hate impossible in principle, in practice eliminating prejudice through central authority means eliminating all but one prejudice—that of whoever is most politically powerful.”
― Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
― Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
“Fundamentalism—the intellectual style, not the religious movement—is the strong disinclination to take seriously the notion that you might be wrong.”
― Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
― Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
Axis Mundi X
— 132 members
— last activity Feb 14, 2010 08:52AM
Better to die, and sleep The never-waking sleep, than linger on And dare to live when the soul's life is gone. Do not stand at my grave and weep; I a ...more
Underground Knowledge — A discussion group
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This global discussion group has been designed to encourage debates about important and underreported issues of our era. All you need is an enquiring ...more
Apocalypse Whenever
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— last activity 4 hours, 47 min ago
The most active group for apocalyptic and dystopian stories! Join a monthly book discussion, get recommendations, or just tell us if you like canned p ...more
The Manhattan Hunt Club
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— last activity May 17, 2022 08:33AM
You have found the perfect little group for discussing the horrific literature of John Saul :-) We're always reading a John Saul title! Please join us ...more
Book Bin Science Fiction Book Club
— 39 members
— last activity Jan 31, 2015 07:51AM
We are a book club that meets upstairs at the Book Bin in Salem, Oregon. We meet on the third Monday of each month @ 7:30 pm. We decide the book for t ...more
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