Posted 2020-November-14, 04:46
Ad hominem is one my favorite (note I now use US spelling) topics. Its become increasingly important and an essential consideration with increasing techno-fascistic tendencies in the world - and the constant use of one form of ad hominem (ie argumenet from authority) to silence debate
And, while its obviously acceptable (maybe not desirable) for individuals not to listen to someone they dislike or disagree with, when those in authority have power over platforms, I think we are entitled to ask questions and raise concerns
And I am going to go beyond platforms (many commerical, some ossibly now utilities) to the underlying technology of all our communications and who has (increasing) control and concetration over every aspect of the essential technologies we need in this world. They are utilities and need to be viewed as such. What concerns me most is that certain insitituions I use to trust implicityly have started to throw their weight around in a very alarming ay over recent years
And what is worse is when those insitituions have become compromised/corrupted through any manner of pressures (commercial etc). It is also concerning when they try to use, and have the power ofprofessional respect/disrespect with which to silence people who know what they are talking about
I will go further. When many of our platforms/technologies started up they came from or were under the power or control of people we respected to value freedom. Countries and institutions. Sadly that is no longer the case. Many things have changed during my lifetime
I for one am conerned. And yes. Much of it relates to ad hominem
But to continue. I may not be a professor in anything at all, but I have seen such total bullsht being argued from authority by so many people over recent years, that I and everyone else has the right (and always did) to raise concerns. Whether the concetration and control of power and technology to silence us if we dare challenge things time will tell. But in my mind the world will go to hell much faster if people are silenced too much
Some of us used to feel safe knowing there was somewhere in the world that believed passionately in free speech and had a constitution to back it up, as well as the technology to host it. These days with various authoritarian tendencies, countries/entities, and increasingly (previously free) institutions it is highly concerning
I am proud that I was good enough, worked hard enough, sacrified huge parts of my life to study in an institution that had etsablished itself against oppresion of thought and actually was the birthplace or starting point of another movement that spread to the USA to be free from oppression over thought and to continue in that vein through my whole life. Hopefully my trust in those passionate beiefs on freedom is not betrayed. At least in my house we are still relatively free to think and speak (CORRECTION I am relatively free to think and speak my mind). You never know, maybe I will die as the last bastion of free speech and thought. It feels that sometimes
But what I see everywhere and through my life has been a terrible betrayal of quality and philosophy in almost every area of our life and the world. Its actually been very frightening from a personal point of view but also from a global point of view. But some of us eventually get to a stage in our lives where we are prepared to risk any sanction and speak out against the perpatual bullshit. If the world goes to hell, what would I care. I spoke up.
You cannot go around silencing people, arguing from authority, using more and more controlling means to silence and control the world and still maintain trust.
I will also say I find it conderning when anyone on thse pages, who I have grown to trust and respect, especially those in some of those bastions of free thought and speech are talking about deplatforming. Sorry to go ad hom at all
Oh and something else, related to political tendencies and oppression. It strange when a group seemingly philosophically embeeded in dialetcic seems so totally incapabale of dealing with alternative points of view they seem to need to silence opposition.
But you never know when you are going to be blocked, silenced or just ignored. The brutal cruelty of this world is that instead of being sent to labour camps or gulags or mental insititutions you can just be blokced, ignored or deplatformed and everyone keeps their hands clean But in many ways its every bit as cruel, maybe ore so, because it is silent and hidden and totally controlling in every possible way.
But what I fear most is the way all the powerful interests are so concetrated in self-interest the world could truly go to techno-fascistic hell. The privleged in their little bubbles (for a while) and the majority out there screaming in pain
Finally, if you want an example of what I am talking about. Its when members of the academe, many members of the media, the majority of the left/progressive tendencies were so intent in arguing against science, silencing aspects of science in relation to the bush fires last ywar. It was an aboslute disgrace that some have been so corrupt. I could have put it doen to dialectiic or debate. But when so-called experts and scientists speak blatant untruths - it is a big worry
My personal hell is coming to terms with having wasted a huge part of my life caring about, working for, and trying to do my bit to imporve a world that really wasnt worth it. Back to my whisky
Help
Cathartic, perhaps, but unlikely to win hearts and minds 
On the net, insolence usually escapes unpunished 