"New" Atheism

[kanzeon_2040]

I was confused yesterday by references to "New Atheism" in an essay I was reading, specifically that New Atheism is "thoroughly rejected by both Left and Right" and "is truly a dead letter in 2023". Oh really

Comments

[matrixmann]

Think of recent ridiculous beliefs popping up

[kanzeon_2040]

"a huge war of everybody against everybody over pure nonsense"

This is what Twitter feels like to me LOL.

It sounds to me like you're defending Internet censorship because without it so much disinformation will flow that people will have no idea what to believe. Of course censorship can be used for different purposes, to save lives from stupid mistakes, or to block people from criticizing the Chinese Communist Party.

Growing up under the US Constitution my education taught me that free speech and free belief create a marketplace of ideas in which the truth eventually wins out. But that was before computer algorithms started tweaking social media feeds to promote "engagement", ultimately creating this huge war of everybody against everybody over pure nonsense.

I'm not sure how to regulate the Internet to find the right balance, but I'd start by turning off the algorithms in social media feeds. Let people follow who they want, and don't rearrange posts or insert suggested posts. At least that way people would be engaged in natural

[matrixmann]

I know what hot iron it is that I pick there and personally I don't like the idea of having to do censorship only so people don't just go crazy over pure nonsense. - Just because you can turn that into every direction and keep information or critique out of media that would be necessary and valuable.
But since quality public education is not guaranteed and people can even refuse to receive it, so they cognitively don't become able enough on their own to recognize and distinguish bullshit from fact, I don't know what else you can do to protect them from themselves and their naive and gullible minds