I spend an inordinate amount of time following the happenings of the world. I follow mainstream (to see what advertising dollars are buying), alternative press (to get a glimpse of the truth), discussion forums (to see what people have to say about it), and more. I would bet that there are very few people who, on a daily basis, review more content on more varying topics. What I see is very concerning. We're headed in the wrong direction.

Many things are in the midst of utter collapse. From social norms to sexuality .. from countries, to currencies, things are in great flux. It is hard to find something that ISN'T changing. I feel great empathy for everyone as we are in times of great turmoil.

Here are three areas that I find particularly notable.

Free Speech

Internet-wise, free speech is UNDER ASSAULT. ALL the major players are implementing censorship, in one form or another. It’s all couched in “protecting the community”, but that’s all a total lie. The idea is to control the narrative, control the messaging, control which perspectives may be heard. What is even more troubling is that there are many among us who support this!

“Censor us!”

“We don’t want to have our feelings hurt!”

“Protect us from ourselves!!”

Our desire for a sanitized, safe environment is being put ahead of free speech and freedom of expression. These are the very ideals that allowed many of the currently in vogue special interests groups to get where they are! We cannot forget what has allowed us to come this far: forgetting our lessons at this point will just take us backwards. We must be absolutely willing to hear things we don’t like. We have no right to not be offended, and pursuit of such is intellectual suicide.

Groupthink

A green, odorous, cowardly blight, groupthink is pervasive and becoming more and more embedded in our collective way of existing. Encountering independent, self-developed perspective that is not somehow tainted by some form of groupthink is becoming rarer and rarer. This is perhaps most prevalent in self styled reformers, who, in their unyielding “you must believe this or die” perspective, allow no room for discourse, no room for the accommodation of alternative perspectives. Truth matters very little: believing and repeating the mantra is enough.

Intellectualism is dying

We are so afraid of the truth, things like statistics, science, and even reality itself are insufficient motivation for us to SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE, and acknowledge that some things have not worked out as we thought they would. So uncomfortable has our reality become, we cannot bear the thought of ever confronting it truthfully.

Looked at through the lens of raising healthy, well-adjusted families, feminism has been a complete and utter failure. Looked at through the lens of peace, multiculturalism has been BAD. Looked at through the lens of intellectual development of the species, western education has been a debacle, a total farce. Looked at through the lens of developing capable adults, entire generations of parents are complete and utter failures. Are these truths we can look at maturely, as a society? I don’t think so. Advancing those ideas in most forums would yield a blast of “offended-hurt-shock” that would derail any possibility of evaluating the (inarguable-based-on-numbers) assertions I make. Socially and culturally, these ideas are very inflammatory. And yet, to a data scientist, it’s just an equation. Today, the social/cultural side is winning out, and inconvenient truths are simply shouted down or ignored. We’re so ready to be offended we can’t face reality. We can only take fleeting glimpses, ready to look away at a moments notice.

I’d like to say that a growing number of people are waking up to these issues, but that’s not the case, really. Mostly, people support the censorship of views that conflict with their own. Most people are more than willing to overlook data or perspectives that are harmful to “their teams” chances of winning. Most people are more than willing to go with the flow, because taking a stand is getting harder and harder to do (and we’re doing everything we can to make it even harder.) Universities are a good example of the degradation: former bastions of free speech and places of free thought, they are exemplary of many of the worst characteristics of this new day. Censorial, childish, these institutions have become expensive daycare centers for juvenile minds.

There is hope though. There is always hope. If things keep going as they are, even the most blind among us will start to see what we have become, and where we’re headed. Hopefully when that realization dawns, we’ll have the courage to sincerely address our collective problems. What happens in the real world must once again be prioritized over what happens “in a perfect world.” Truth must make a comeback. Empathy must again be respected. And good action once must again follow good intention.

If we are to change, we must change. Here’s to hoping we have the courage to do so. Thank you for reading this, and good luck out there!

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[ @xwalkran ]

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