Thought of the day
"Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas."
~ Alfred Whitney Griswold, New York Times, 24 February 1959
So what do we think of censorship, then?
posted by Wayne Smallman at Wednesday, June 29, 2005
5 Comments:
Down with censorship!
"The more restrictions and prohibitions in the world, the poorer people get."
-- Lao Tzu
"A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything."
--Bonaparte, Napoleon
Thanks for commenting, Gimpy!
Censorship is such a huge subject which I've heard and seen and played witness to being battled out so many times and on every occasion there has never been any resolution to the issue that covers all of the variables.
We, the great unwashed being those variables.
As a programmer, I get to develop some great stuff.
There is a saying which is in itself a rule: all ideas work fine on paper until people are introduced.
The moment you go and throw people into the mix, all of your best laid plans can often come to nought.
No amount of censorship will avert the video-game-inspired gun-spree in a shopping mall.
Conversly, no amount of liberal thinking will prevent government intervention on a particularly sensitive news story that eventually and mysteriously disappears.
There is just too much data, information and knowledge, most of which the vast majority of this world are neither ready for or capable of comprehending.
I imagine I'm among that number...
First of all, are you feeling better?!
Now, as you said, once you add people into the mix... the problem with censorship (or many things for that matter) is that there are too many opinions. Yet, that same thing is our saving grace.
Everything is subjective and there will never be a conclusion reached that will appease the masses.
There are some things that should be taboo, but that is my opinion - you may find them acceptable. It's a tough call and one that will have an ongoing ebb and flow.
I suppose I am a romantic idealist .. but as with almost everything else I do, there's a difference.
I don't believe that we're ready for a lot of things that we currently have access to. We're like a bunch of kids in our dads garage, where we have access to many things that should be out of bounds.
While we might be smart enough to use them, we're just not smart enough to use them with the required judicious wisdom of someone much more senior than ourselves.
I think in time we will be ready, but not for some time to come. And without wanting to lower the tone or depress anyone too much, I think something bad is going to happen before we get there.
Pain, suffering and devastation are often an excellent stimulus for needed change, don't you think?
As I've said somewhere else, what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger...
Wayne, that last line.... I've made that my mantra many years running.
Post a Comment
<< Home