Press Freedom - "Chess like Life" or "Life like Chess"
An interesting question arose for me this week regaring a fellow who lost his job due to his personal blog. The situation seems to be that the fellow was an editor at a small town weekly newspaper. In his spare time, he journaled online about various thoughts regarding local and daily events. Apparently, his employer did not appreciate this, or was under pressure from others, and let the fellow go.
Do we ALL have freedom of press in the USA?
I have to say that I have looked over this fellow's blog, and it is something very similar to what I might write, had I the time and complusion. Many of the thoughts he shared, are similar to thoughts I can imagine myself having. I love to think. And why not? Shouldn't all intelligent people, especially those active in their society, be willing to follow chains of thought out to their conclusions? Isn't it only then, that one can truly weigh the logic against one's own value system?
I like to think of it this way: My father and I used to play the game of chess. Winning a game of chess is dependant on the ability to see the situation as it is, the WHOLE situation, and then to consider all the possible moves and alternatives. At the same time, one must be able to take the position of the challenger, and see from that point of view -- again, ALL the moves and variations. In chess, there are no taboo lines of reasoning. In fact, to learn chess is to explore the alternatives, and through experience, to understand which lines of thought are successful, and which are not. The best chess player in the world is now bested by a computer. The computer van only win by calculating and scoring millions of possible moves. Even for a computer, freedom of "thought" is the only way it can be successful.
Life is much like chess. To understand this life that we find ourselves in, we must look at the big picture, try to understand how it will change without us, determine what we might do within it, and then choose a course of action. All lines of thought must be open. Speaking and writing are tools to advance that thinking, and to help others explore new lines of thought.
This fellow, whose job was taken away, was doing what humans are meant to do: he was exploring his line of thinking. He was reaching out in his own mind, and reaching out to others to help them see more of the big picture, and their roles within it. One is drawn to wonder, what exactly is contradictory about a person doing some editing for a job, and also writing about public events on their own time?
It seems like a blatent attack on Freedom of the Press. Too bad. With the Eosawki only a throw of the dice away, we are going to need to feel free to explore all lines of thinking, in all ways possible, so that we might come through, together, in one piece.
References
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-38/119038261715140.xml&coll=6
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1879403
http://both-right.blogspot.com/2007/09/fired-hastings-banner-editor-makes-it.html
http://www.compulsorynews.blogspot.com/
Additional Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech
Do we ALL have freedom of press in the USA?
I have to say that I have looked over this fellow's blog, and it is something very similar to what I might write, had I the time and complusion. Many of the thoughts he shared, are similar to thoughts I can imagine myself having. I love to think. And why not? Shouldn't all intelligent people, especially those active in their society, be willing to follow chains of thought out to their conclusions? Isn't it only then, that one can truly weigh the logic against one's own value system?
I like to think of it this way: My father and I used to play the game of chess. Winning a game of chess is dependant on the ability to see the situation as it is, the WHOLE situation, and then to consider all the possible moves and alternatives. At the same time, one must be able to take the position of the challenger, and see from that point of view -- again, ALL the moves and variations. In chess, there are no taboo lines of reasoning. In fact, to learn chess is to explore the alternatives, and through experience, to understand which lines of thought are successful, and which are not. The best chess player in the world is now bested by a computer. The computer van only win by calculating and scoring millions of possible moves. Even for a computer, freedom of "thought" is the only way it can be successful.
Life is much like chess. To understand this life that we find ourselves in, we must look at the big picture, try to understand how it will change without us, determine what we might do within it, and then choose a course of action. All lines of thought must be open. Speaking and writing are tools to advance that thinking, and to help others explore new lines of thought.
This fellow, whose job was taken away, was doing what humans are meant to do: he was exploring his line of thinking. He was reaching out in his own mind, and reaching out to others to help them see more of the big picture, and their roles within it. One is drawn to wonder, what exactly is contradictory about a person doing some editing for a job, and also writing about public events on their own time?
It seems like a blatent attack on Freedom of the Press. Too bad. With the Eosawki only a throw of the dice away, we are going to need to feel free to explore all lines of thinking, in all ways possible, so that we might come through, together, in one piece.
References
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-38/119038261715140.xml&coll=6
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1879403
http://both-right.blogspot.com/2007/09/fired-hastings-banner-editor-makes-it.html
http://www.compulsorynews.blogspot.com/
Additional Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech