> “For people that don’t see our vision yet, people that don’t see what’s happening here at X, stop giving any of that oxygen,” she said. “Don’t pay attention to it.”
Does X pay its rent yet? Is that part of the Vision?
I read your comment using X with its historical meaning of "insert option here" instead of the rebranding of Twitter and it gave me one more reason to hate this stupid, stupid rebrand even as someone who doesn't use it.
Took Elon 17 years to get Tesla profitable... why do you think he'd give up in a year?
The largest problem with businesses these days is the "we must make profit next quarter" mindset and the "I hope he fails" is either that - or a pocket dislike of free speech. Each option is questionable in it's own right.
I hope Elon succeeds. Not because I agree with everything he says or does but because I value free speech.
“I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it” -Voltaire
> I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it” -Voltaire
I also just want to elucidate this quote a bit in case you didn't know.
Voltaire did not actually write these exact words. The line is a summary of his views on freedom of speech and thought, and it was penned by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her 1906 biography of Voltaire titled "The Friends of Voltaire." Hall wrote this phrase to encapsulate Voltaire's beliefs on the subject.
Given that Voltaire himself did not say these exact words, there is no specific context in which he was addressing someone or some particular statement he disagreed with.
Voltaire was a man of the Enlightenment, which prioritized reason, evidence, and logical argumentation. He would likely have opposed the deliberate spread of falsehoods and deceit. However, he would also probably have advocated for the right of people to express even flawed arguments, as challenging such arguments through reason and debate is foundational to Enlightenment values.
But when it comes to personal attacks, slander, deceit, and hate speech, he would have not been so tolerant, because the subtext is when he speaks of "speech" he means engaging in an enlightened conversation using reason, evidence, and logical argumentation. It's okay to have flawed logic, evidence or reasoning, but he was fighting the powers at be of his time, and those were using deceit, irrational and illogical fallacies, appeals to emotions, forced censorship and the like to push falsehoods. The values of the enlightenment were about working towards accurate truth seeking.
I actually saw that when finding the quote but was too lazy to go deep into it. Yeah, it's not Voltaire quoted but her paraphrase.
I think free speech is like all our other rights - absolute but your rights end where the rights of others begin. Which is a wonderful paradox in which to live.
You have the right to self defense but don't have the right to own a nuke. You have a right to speak freely but not to defame/slander/incite violence. The question isn't are those rights yours but where your right ends and the line between your rights and mine.
It's still probably my favorite quote - especially as a veteran - even if, like a lot of things, its not exactly 100% accurate lol.
I should put it as "Voltaire, misquoted by Hall"
My other favorite quote is:
“When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
You don't truly believe Twitter has become any better at free speech than it was before do you? Cause that's foolish. There's tons of bans and blocks, and there's still bias in the algorithms for promoting tweets.
The only change is that what gets censored is now more aligned with Musk's own interests. That's all.
How could it not be better? it's not working with the US Gov to censor free speech that's proven to be true after the fact.
One of the biggest scandals of our time is "disinformation" that the government doesn't approve of being silenced by Government working with Private Industry to get around bans on government censorship of speech. Used for dissent around COVID "misinformation" or "election integrity".
I didn't claim X is perfect but it's a lot better than twitter that banned, say, the post for putting up The Laptop Story - that's long since been proven 100% true and was suppressed by... drum roll! the FBI literally lying about "russia".
The only thing that's changed is there's a top place for information that isn't controlled by the government - right or wrong.
I understand that's scary but scary freedom is better than the safety of slavery.
I'm sorry for doing this, but I'm going to defer to ChatGPT 4, as it does a better job than I could at explaining why I'm not convinced by what you're saying to believe it's any better now that Musk owns Twitter.
1. Instances of deceit, irrationality, or fallacious reasoning:
- The claim "it's not working with the US Gov to censor free speech that's proven to be true after the fact" suggests that because something is proven true later, it was necessarily censored for being true. This is a post hoc fallacy.
- Labeling disapproved "disinformation" as "literally the hallmark of fascism" is a slippery slope fallacy, as it makes an extreme conclusion based on limited data.
- The claim that Twitter banned "the post for putting up The Laptop Story" and connects it with the FBI "literally lying about 'russia'" makes an assumption of causation without clear evidence.
- The comparison "scary freedom is better than the safety of slavery" is a false dichotomy, suggesting only two extreme options exist.
2. Overt emotional appeals or attempts to manipulate the reader's emotions:
- Using terms like "biggest scandals of our time," "hallmark of fascism," and "safety of slavery" are emotionally charged phrases meant to evoke strong reactions from the reader.
- The phrase "drum roll!" is an attempt to heighten anticipation and add emphasis to the subsequent statement.
- "I understand that's scary" acknowledges the emotional weight of the topic, attempting to resonate with readers who might feel the same.
3. Summary of the Overall Approach:
The text primarily employs emotional appeals and fallacious reasoning to make its points. While it presents some claims as factual, it lacks concrete evidence or logical argumentation to support them. Instead, it relies on emotionally charged phrases and extreme comparisons to drive home its perspective. The text does not align strongly with Enlightenment values of reason, evidence, and logical argumentation. Instead, it leans heavily on emotional and manipulative tactics.
Edit (to add my rational for why I'm not convinced it's any better):
Like ChatGPT points out, the arguments against the prior Twitter and for the new I don't find fully logical or evidenced.
And in my view, the transition of Twitter to private ownership under Elon Musk pose challenges to its role as a guardian of free speech, compared to its time as a publicly traded company.
This change potentially alters the checks and balances in place, as the discourse and recourse now largely rest on Elon's discretion. And possibly on Elon's creditors, which some of them are questionable.
Previously, various stakeholders could critique and influence Twitter's policies, fostering a level of transparency. Now, this dynamic is gone.
So I'm left to take Elon's personal guarantee. To believe his claim that he's a good dictator. That he won't leave his personal beliefs and interests bias his platform. And to believe that it will end up being an overall net positive to truth seeking, and not devolve into another tool that helps falsehoods spread while truth erodes.
Even if he does manage to do all that for some time, being privately held isn't a robust mechanism to protect free speech and promote truth long term. If he worked to somehow democratize, create check and bounds, and all that, I'll change my mind.
"OpenAI also started responding to user backlash and regulatory pressure by censoring harmful ChatGPT responses, which may have led some users to abandon the tool, possibly viewing it as less useful, less trustworthy, or simply less fun."
Let me know when I can talk to a human again. I'm not here to talk to NPCs hiding behind Censored AI.
pre-post edit: noticed your edit.
"To believe his claim that he's a good dictator."
I trust Elon as a "good dictator" when compared to alternatives. (IE: Media working with the FBI to censor stories and influence elections by hiding truth)
Don't talk about the "robust mechanism to protect free speech" without being willing to talk about all the alternative to "Elon"... the US government? Other tech companies? Media? Who have all been proven to be willing to lie to keep a narrative?
Even if he has his flaws? (hint: he has many) The fact that he's not beholden to the US Government or other entities is in itself a step that we needed to break the silence about all the "conspiracy theories" that keep ended up being true.
Elon is faaaaaaar from perfect. He sure as shit isn't the one walking on water.... but he's waaaaaaay more trustworthy than most of the alternatives out there.
The US government is elected by you (assuming you're a US citizen). Public companies you can actually acquire shares in, and hold some control over. And there's a level of transparency in what they have to report to the public.
Elon, you're just blindly putting your trust and faith in him...
I'll never understand the tribal instinct people seem to have in blindly following a single authoritarian but convincing leader over a system that empowers you, has checks and balances in place, and federates the powers.
It's an opinion article, so I wasn't expecting much, but it seems a little disingenuous.
That said, an open-source platform more focused on decentralization would be a better solution, but nothing will be perfect while power and wealth are so centralized. I hope Damus is able to grow, but it's just not easy access enough as it is.
I generally dislike publicly traded companies and wish stock markets and speculation didn't exist, but there's no hope of that, so instead I'll cheer on any public corporation that goes private. I think using mass social media is largely bad for your mental health, but I hope the company succeeds in some capacity.
Does X pay its rent yet? Is that part of the Vision?