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10 pointsprivong5 comments

Because where I come from, a crime has a victim. Even traffic and moving violations have a kind of victim, in that they help maintain safety on the roads.

A thought can never be a crime. When ideas are criminal, the entire advancement of the human species grinds to a halt.

The idea that thought crime could exist and that we could simultaneously maintain a fair legal system seems pretty unlikely IMO

Other countries have fair legal systems and thoughtcrime. Germany bans certain ideas and symbols. Theocratic-leaning countries do the same for heresy. The structure of the legal systems in the west haven't changed for hundreds of years, but hundreds of years ago they also prosecuted and convicted for thoughtcrime.

Germany bans certain forms of expression, they don’t police thoughts. There is a difference.

@chroma: That’s a form of expression, but you’re not going to run afoul of the law for thoughts in your head, just the ones you share. I don’t mean offense, but I think you don’t actually know what a “thought crime” is. Read 1984, it’s worth it.

You can't deny the holocaust in Germany.

Edit: I'm using thought crime in the sense that Robin Hanson is using in the blog post. He was talking about how certain ideas are legal but subject to extralegal punishments via mob rule.

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