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Comment by Bakary | Hacker News Reader

I can understand this perspective but even voluntary censorship seems so contrary to some of the aspects of literature that make it compelling, chief among those its capacity to help expose yourself to different modes of thought.

Ironically GRRM specifically mentioned that he doesn't write "comfort fiction".

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Think of voluntary censorship in terms of other things like voluntarily abstaining from alcohol, drugs, or even meat.

I avoid things that I believe are bad for my body, and I avoid things that I believe are bad for my mind. You might argue that it's impossible to consume something "bad for your mind", but I disagree. I think there are certain forms of entertainment (written, visual, and interactive) that absolutely can desensitize you, distract you, addict you, influence you (negatively), etc. - I try to avoid those effects where possible, and self-censorship is just one tool to combat them.

For what it's worth I have really appreciated this thread. I 100% agree with the comments that you have made and try and do the same. Unfortunately I doubt I will ever make the time to create a project like yours and just ignore certain media instead.

Thanks! If it makes you feel better, you can already use Calibre to do basic ebook editing (bulk find/replace profanity, etc.) - your ebook just needs to be DRM-free.

All my project allows me to do is export a set of changes on a book to a JSON-based metadata format, so the changes can be shared. I'm afraid to monetize it because I don't think I could deliver a good UX without breaking DRM (which would get me into legal hot water), but perhaps making it into a context-free Calibre plugin might be safe...

Alright, thanks! One more thing to add to the future tech list.

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