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Censorship of Thought and How to Avoid It

October 5, 2020

Society

censorship, control, social media, society, thought, writing

Not all limitations in expression are censorship. Think of an academic essay where – except quoting others for specific purposes – you can’t say “lol” or “whazzup”. But censorship is all about limitations in writing and expressing. Censorship of thought, in particular, is an especially insidious process – and the ultimate goal of censorship.

Censorship of thought essentially refers to self-censorship – I will use the terms interchangeably in this post. A system or process that manages to censor thought has been so effective in “plain vanilla” censorship, that people – having become conditioned – no longer bother writing or expressing what they think would be anyway censored.

Therefore, censorship – like using euphemisms, which are also a form of censorship – is ultimately about thought control. Moreover, exactly like euphemisms, self-censorship is achieved with subtlety, sophistication, and ambiguity.

That’s precisely what makes it so dangerous. Like unintended misinformation, self-censorship can creep into your writing without even your noticing it.

censorship of thought
Censorship is about raising a wall and teaching someone to stand before it.
Self-censorship is about teaching someone to stand there even when the wall is removed
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What Is Confirmation Bias: Examples and Dangers

May 31, 2020

Philosophy, Society

confirmation bias, ignorance, reason, relationship, thought, truth

Do you know what’s the biggest obstacle to your finding the truth? You are! Each one of us must overcome their own preconceptions to discover what lies beneath. And confirmation bias is among the most insidious hurdles blocking our path.

Confirmation bias is when you favor indications or cases that support your existing viewpoints, while you disregard others that would force you to reconsider.

One typical confirmation bias example is superstition: You tend to remember the one time you had an accident after you saw a black cat, and conveniently forget the untold thousands you didn’t have an accident after seeing a black cat.

In this post we’ll take a closer look at confirmation bias: We’ll see how it works and why. I’ll offer you some typical examples of confirmation bias, and we’ll also see why it’s insidious.

I’ll even share a literary example!

confirmation bias examples
Confirmation bias means you’re blinded to your own prejudices
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What Is Philosophical Suicide?

January 26, 2020

Philosophy

absurd, ignorance, philosophy, religion, society, suicide, thought

As a notion, suicide is riddled with ideological baggage. Forbidden by most religions and snubbed by societal norms, the concept of self-annihilation often stirs emotions. On a more subtle level, this ought to be the case for philosophical suicide.

Alas, it isn’t. Ironically enough, as we’ll see, the reasons are related (at least indirectly) to the very dogmatism informing physical suicide.

But what is philosophical suicide?

Very briefly, philosophical suicide is an essentially ad-hoc attempt to explain away the inconsistency between the human desire for existential purpose and the apparent lack of such a purpose.

The term is heavily related to the concept of the absurd as described by Albert Camus. Therefore, in order to define philosophical suicide (also described by Camus), we must first take a quick look at the absurd.

philosophical suicide
To face the absurd, Camus sees three options, one of which is philosophical suicide
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