zlacker

Are you under the impression that Venn Diagram of "rational adults who are contributing members of society" and "crazy people" do not overlap, and that the latter cannot influence the former?

Do you believe QAnon has gone from a 4chan meme to a political movement which has gained the support of the President and seats in Congress because no rational adult or contributing member of society has ever fallen prey to them?

Human beings are not rational animals, human beings are emotional animals, we're great apes hardwired for paredolia and bigotry because it helped us survive the tall grasses of the Savannah a hundred thousand years ago. The assumption you and others like you make, that given a free (as in unregulated) market of ideas, rationality and truth will always win out, is as naive as the belief that ethics and quality always win in free market capitalism. Bad actors always dominate unless some external regulating force prevents them from doing so.

>What is the end goal? To make it impossible for crazy people to be heard online? Wouldn't a better goal be to educate ourselves on how to ignore the crazies and focus on reliable sources?

False dichotomy - we can do both. It is impossible to effectively educate ourselves or anyone else in an environment in which it is also impossible to distinguish good from bad information, or even attempt to do so, without fear of "censorship". We don't need to pretend Joe Rogan and Alex Jones are sources of truth on par with the BBC and Al Jazeera, or that evolution and the Book of Genesis are equally valid attempts to describe the natural world, or that QAnon represents a legitimate framework of political and social criticism, merely for the sake of allowing controversy, in the false belief that controversy is equivalent to freedom.

>>krapp+(OP)
You have more faith in your own virtue and right to rule over others than I do. I prefer to live as much as possible letting others live as they choose and being responsible for myself. QAnon isn't really much of a problem in the real world -- nobody is burning down cities and rioting because of it.

>>tux196+EI
>You have more faith in your own virtue and right to rule over others than I do. I prefer to live as much as possible letting others live as they choose and being responsible for myself.

I never claimed any such personal faith or right, and that is a disingenuous reading of my comment. The chip on your shoulder is noted, albeit not compelling.

>QAnon isn't really much of a problem in the real world -- nobody is burning down cities and rioting because of it.

Hm... understate the threat of right-wing extremists, overstate the threat of left-wing activists.

Where have I seen that a million times before?

>>krapp+uV
It is a fair reading. You are advocating the control of speech and online freedom of others based on your own personal beliefs. Any way you cut it, you can not advocate such things without believing your views on the world are superior enough to justify those illiberal desires.

I just stated the facts. There are riots and violence in the streets of America right now. I'm not saying it's rampant, but it DOES exist. You can't point to the same to justify your fears about qanon and their incoherent ramblings.

As for the chip on my shoulder, i've tried to keep this civil even though I do strongly disagree with your desire to suppress the speech of your political foes.