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
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Andrew,
Exactly. On the Internet, people are disembodied spirits yelling at each other. That’s no way to build a community.
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The quotes are interesting. Thank you for sharing them 🙂
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Kritika,
My pleasure!
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Great post, Mike! Thanks for sharing this.
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Jack,
Thank you!
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Both quotes are healthy reminders that free speech comes with the caveat of free knuckle sandwiches.
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That’s a fact!
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