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Comment by nullifidian | Hacker News Reader

Adherents of Critical Theory are not interested in debates. They are interested in smashing what they view as oppression by any means possible. Questioning their goals is oppression itself. Facts specifically don't matter, what matters are the perceptions of the oppressed. So I doubt this project will be of any help with our modern culture wars.

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Opponents of Critical Theory are not interested in debates. They are interested in defending their privileged positions by any means possible. Questioning their rightful status at the top of the hierarchy is destruction of liberal norms itself. Facts specifically don't matter, what matters are the opinions and careers of the elite class. So I doubt this project will help with out modern culture wars. /s

Hey wow, making strawmen is fun! They're so easy to demolish!

>making strawmen is fun

If only it was a straw man. Rejection of liberalism and its adjacent Enlightenment values/ideals is at the very core of the modern critical theories. It's written everywhere in the literature. Liberalism, debates and so on perpetuate inequities. I assume you are just not very familiar with this stuff.

Completely wrong analogy.

Critical theorists just want to shut down any kind of debate whose conversation does not fit their worldview. I don't think we need examples here.

On the other hand, there are many opponents of critical theory that are genuinely interested in debate, and in comparing their worldview with different ideas.

Yeah, I'm pessimistically skeptical as well: dispassionate recitation of many inconvenient facts gets people banned from most forums (and then doxxed and fired); I doubt this will be any different.

Theoretically, a well-designed platform might cause that kind of arguer to get downvoted, and the remaining civil proponents of Critical Theory (who would normally be drowned out by the uncivil ones) can put forth the actual ideas, which can be discussed intelligently.

Unfortunately, all I see is a page that wants me to sign up, so I can't yet say whether this site has an interesting approach towards making the above happen.

My thoughts exactly. I plan on checking and maybe using Ceasefire, but if it succeeds the critical theorists will declare it another means of intersectional oppression. And then the mob will start. And then Ceasefire will not be big enough not to bend the knee.

Exactly.

I don't see any technical way to enforce good faith in online discussion. At this point you can lose your job for saying something that was perfectly mainstream a year ago.

"It is impossible to design a system so perfect that no one needs to be good."

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