I’ve been pondering the deterioration of public discourse. The occasion of Robert Heinlein’s birthday brings to mind this quote:
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
Which reminds me of this:
“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.”
― Robert E. Howard
Very interesting insight indeed, the lack of ‘skin in the game’ in online forums as opposes to tight knit communities can have negative consequences for public discourse
Andrew,
Exactly. On the Internet, people are disembodied spirits yelling at each other. That’s no way to build a community.
The quotes are interesting. Thank you for sharing them 🙂
Kritika,
My pleasure!
Great post, Mike! Thanks for sharing this.
Jack,
Thank you!
Both quotes are healthy reminders that free speech comes with the caveat of free knuckle sandwiches.
That’s a fact!