Timeline for Why have I been suspended from the ICM chat? General remarks about unwelcoming behaviour on MathOverflow
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2020 at 16:14 | comment | added | fedja | @StanleyYaoXiao "free speech is hardly ever threatened in the contexts where people like to discuss free speech." Erm... What kind of logic is that? Free speech is free speech about anything, not about itself. The idea that one is free to speak, IMHO, goes as far as that the government should protect anyone who speaks within the limits of the current law from retribution (say, an employee that makes a public statement that his boss dislikes). As to the rest, we, obviously, hold different opinions on the subject, but that's OK with me and not very relevant to the current thread :-). | |
| Sep 4, 2020 at 15:27 | comment | added | Stanley Yao Xiao | @fedja free speech is hardly ever threatened in the contexts where people like to discuss free speech. The idea that one is protected to speak what they want only goes as far as governments should not prosecute/persecute people for speaking their minds. As far as I know, neither Tim Hunt nor James Watson was arrested/prosectuted for their remarks. Free speech does not protect one from any and all negative consequences. The amount of retribution these men received is appropriate, and for them, more or less a slap on the wrist. | |
| Sep 1, 2020 at 17:50 | comment | added | fedja | @YemonChoi Yes, it is a good article and if the statement is that some amount of censorship is healthy or even required, I agree with it 100%. However, we are back to the times when a misplaced joke (Tim Hunt) or openly saying what you think in response to a direct question (James Watson) can cost you a job and when spreading of "liberal ideas" goes not as much through raising solidarity to their cause via argumentation and education as through instilling fear of any dissent and suppression of all deviations from the party line. So, I guess, it is "free speech" that is endangered now again. | |
| Sep 1, 2020 at 4:08 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | Fedja: this piece from 2015 is very British-centred and may be somewhat outdated, but at the time I found it an interesting point of view or "working hypothesis" with which to view online discussions andrewhickey.info/2015/11/04/freezing-peaches (The author may have altered his views since then, for all I know) | |
| Sep 1, 2020 at 4:02 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | @NoahSnyder I have no desire to see that user continue their antics but I am deeply, deeply, deeply uncomfortable with language like "pure evil", with possible exceptions for the likes of the Moors Murderers. Evil is not some kind of transitive relation; nor does A implies B and C implies B mean that A implies C. (FWIW I subscribe both to the "banality of evil" POV and goodreads.com/quotes/… ; YMMV) | |
| Aug 31, 2020 at 15:41 | comment | added | Noah Snyder | I am completely content with my decision to make a stand against an awful racist troll, and I think my opinions have been completely vindicated by his subsequent behavior. Most of the time you can try come to an agreement with people you disagree with, but sometimes you have to make a stand against pure evil. In my 10+ years at MO and many many disagreements, this is the single instance of the latter situation. | |
| Aug 31, 2020 at 4:36 | history | answered | fedja | CC BY-SA 4.0 |