It makes me think of older ideas of human nature and, more specifically, the reformed idea of Total Depravity. John Calvin's argument would be that even if you could build a perfect Twitter, it would be ruined by far from perfect people doing terrible things to themselves and others.
But the techlash remains important, a bit like original sin. Total Depravity says people cannot perfect themselves, but Original Sin reminds us that the systems (or powers & principalities) are broken, too. We need both responses to social media. Now I have to go read that essay!
I love that framing - it applies to so many situations where humans are enmeshed in systems. The problems are never 100% individuals' fault nor are they 100% the system's fault. There's always a complex interaction between the two. Religion has definitely tackled this as you point out, it remains a great lens through which to evaluate technology today!
► John Calvin's argument would be that even if you could build a perfect Twitter, it would be ruined by far from perfect people.
Washington, Franklin & Jefferson all said the same of government... and who ended up ruining that government? --Religious zealots and crusaders who support perpetual wars for profit!
Christ's argument would be that we have no right to punish people for their personal lifestyle choices (Let him without sin cast the first stone. And woe unto those who call [the herbs] evil which God said were good.) But the self-appointed representatives of Christ are the primary sponsors of herb prohibition! This is FAR more costly and concerning than Twitter, and it needs to be dealt with before anything else -- for no one has done more damage to the principle of "liberty and justice for all" than religious neofundamentalists. While Drew did not explicitly disclose his position on prohibition, he employs the same rhetoric & justifications as the prohibitionists, so I think the subject is fair game here: This article is more a condemnation of tobacco users than anything else, and this fraud deserves to be called out.
Interesting... a blog post which implies that blogging is a bad habit. I cant resist this one!
► Smoking, on the other hand, promises nothing except momentary relief
The same could be said for eating & breathing.
► the primary fuel for social media toxicity is us
And the primary fuel for social toxicity is also us: We have the world's largest prison population because of prohibition, this costs us about a half million dollars per prisoner per year, but we are more concerned about online speech?
► There is absolutely no benefit to smoking a cigarette, aside from a brief, ephemeral buzz.
The medicinal uses of tobacco have been recognized for centuries. They include relief from common digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, metabolic dysfunction, muscle & nerve pain, and the complications of various genetic disorders. Tobacco also improves mental focus & concentration. It's hard to think of a task where that doesn't help.
If you say so, I will accept that there is "no benefit" for YOU in smoking a cigarette -- but you have no right to make that determination for anyone else. And you still benefit from tobacco, if it improves the concentration & stamina of someone who makes things that you use (such as the hardware or software which powers your blog.) So I would kindly suggest that you find another scapegoat:
If all men have equal rights, then you have no right to dictate the needs of others (or invalidate their choices.) I suppose you mean well -- but a repulsive, arrogant pride is exhibited here -- and the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Who are you trying to impress anyway? There are too many sects which believe they are superior because their drug of choice is something different than their neighbors, and this kind of witch hunt is a greater plague than anything we encounter on social media.
► its purely unproductive, almost meditative nature
Meditation is NOT unproductive; it is practiced by the most successful military commanders and captains of industry. Thomas Edison routinely used drugs to enhance meditation (some of which are now illegal.) You are basically saying that tobacco is not medicine, but you have no moral authority to make that determination. As with any medicine, what works for one does not work for ALL-- so you can only truthfully say that meditation is unproductive for YOU.
All of our herb prohibitions are predicated on the concept that your body is government property (and the premise that natural medicines have no legitimate purpose.) And now the fascists are coming for tobacco, starting with a ban on menthol cigarettes. But if you sincerely believe that tobacco users are all just plain stupid, and you think that expanding the hopeless & costly "war on drugs" is a good idea, then you are just as ignorant as the people whose perceptions are shaped by big tech's censorship algorithms.
► Twitter absolutely amplifies some of our worst qualities
But government does that more than anything else -- and more people have been killed by government than by anything else. It's obvious that our priorities are completely backwards here.
► Health and wellness are hallmarks of the present zeitgeist
This is simply not true: cancer rates have exploded despite the decline in tobacco use. This parallels the increased use of growth hormones, endocrine disruptors and glyphosate pesticides in our food products. But still the majority does not care -- it is not even an issue in political campaigns. Thousands of mobile phone masts are violating maximum legal power levels -- and none of the regulations are being enforced. All of those things are more harmful to society, but they are the lowest priority. The "present zeitgeist" is hypocrisy, duplicity, insincerity, arrogance, and collective insanity. Where public policy is concerned, truth & justice are completely inverted. At least you can choose to avoid tobacco... but this is not the case with excessive microwave radiation, or the poisoned food and water supply. So your judgements are just a distraction from everything which really matters.
I'm here for this.
It makes me think of older ideas of human nature and, more specifically, the reformed idea of Total Depravity. John Calvin's argument would be that even if you could build a perfect Twitter, it would be ruined by far from perfect people doing terrible things to themselves and others.
But the techlash remains important, a bit like original sin. Total Depravity says people cannot perfect themselves, but Original Sin reminds us that the systems (or powers & principalities) are broken, too. We need both responses to social media. Now I have to go read that essay!
I love that framing - it applies to so many situations where humans are enmeshed in systems. The problems are never 100% individuals' fault nor are they 100% the system's fault. There's always a complex interaction between the two. Religion has definitely tackled this as you point out, it remains a great lens through which to evaluate technology today!
► John Calvin's argument would be that even if you could build a perfect Twitter, it would be ruined by far from perfect people.
Washington, Franklin & Jefferson all said the same of government... and who ended up ruining that government? --Religious zealots and crusaders who support perpetual wars for profit!
Christ's argument would be that we have no right to punish people for their personal lifestyle choices (Let him without sin cast the first stone. And woe unto those who call [the herbs] evil which God said were good.) But the self-appointed representatives of Christ are the primary sponsors of herb prohibition! This is FAR more costly and concerning than Twitter, and it needs to be dealt with before anything else -- for no one has done more damage to the principle of "liberty and justice for all" than religious neofundamentalists. While Drew did not explicitly disclose his position on prohibition, he employs the same rhetoric & justifications as the prohibitionists, so I think the subject is fair game here: This article is more a condemnation of tobacco users than anything else, and this fraud deserves to be called out.
Interesting... a blog post which implies that blogging is a bad habit. I cant resist this one!
► Smoking, on the other hand, promises nothing except momentary relief
The same could be said for eating & breathing.
► the primary fuel for social media toxicity is us
And the primary fuel for social toxicity is also us: We have the world's largest prison population because of prohibition, this costs us about a half million dollars per prisoner per year, but we are more concerned about online speech?
► There is absolutely no benefit to smoking a cigarette, aside from a brief, ephemeral buzz.
The medicinal uses of tobacco have been recognized for centuries. They include relief from common digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, metabolic dysfunction, muscle & nerve pain, and the complications of various genetic disorders. Tobacco also improves mental focus & concentration. It's hard to think of a task where that doesn't help.
If you say so, I will accept that there is "no benefit" for YOU in smoking a cigarette -- but you have no right to make that determination for anyone else. And you still benefit from tobacco, if it improves the concentration & stamina of someone who makes things that you use (such as the hardware or software which powers your blog.) So I would kindly suggest that you find another scapegoat:
If all men have equal rights, then you have no right to dictate the needs of others (or invalidate their choices.) I suppose you mean well -- but a repulsive, arrogant pride is exhibited here -- and the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Who are you trying to impress anyway? There are too many sects which believe they are superior because their drug of choice is something different than their neighbors, and this kind of witch hunt is a greater plague than anything we encounter on social media.
► its purely unproductive, almost meditative nature
Meditation is NOT unproductive; it is practiced by the most successful military commanders and captains of industry. Thomas Edison routinely used drugs to enhance meditation (some of which are now illegal.) You are basically saying that tobacco is not medicine, but you have no moral authority to make that determination. As with any medicine, what works for one does not work for ALL-- so you can only truthfully say that meditation is unproductive for YOU.
All of our herb prohibitions are predicated on the concept that your body is government property (and the premise that natural medicines have no legitimate purpose.) And now the fascists are coming for tobacco, starting with a ban on menthol cigarettes. But if you sincerely believe that tobacco users are all just plain stupid, and you think that expanding the hopeless & costly "war on drugs" is a good idea, then you are just as ignorant as the people whose perceptions are shaped by big tech's censorship algorithms.
► Twitter absolutely amplifies some of our worst qualities
But government does that more than anything else -- and more people have been killed by government than by anything else. It's obvious that our priorities are completely backwards here.
► Health and wellness are hallmarks of the present zeitgeist
This is simply not true: cancer rates have exploded despite the decline in tobacco use. This parallels the increased use of growth hormones, endocrine disruptors and glyphosate pesticides in our food products. But still the majority does not care -- it is not even an issue in political campaigns. Thousands of mobile phone masts are violating maximum legal power levels -- and none of the regulations are being enforced. All of those things are more harmful to society, but they are the lowest priority. The "present zeitgeist" is hypocrisy, duplicity, insincerity, arrogance, and collective insanity. Where public policy is concerned, truth & justice are completely inverted. At least you can choose to avoid tobacco... but this is not the case with excessive microwave radiation, or the poisoned food and water supply. So your judgements are just a distraction from everything which really matters.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cell+tower+removed+after+4th+student+diagnosed+with+cancer