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Comment by bob1029 | Hacker News Reader

I don't think this is a healthy way to live. There was another conversation thread started about an hour ago that dives into this really well:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30602611

I would reiterate my comment on that thread, verbatim:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30603008

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On the contrary, this seems to me a very healthy way to live. Until the last 15 years, very few people had their views expressed beyond a narrow circle. Standing on a public stage and shouting your every thought would have seemed crazy.

Without hesitation I dare say there is prior art in this question. I’m thinking of the Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park.

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-32703071

I don't think Speakers' Corner is remotely comparable to how social media works today.

Very few people spoke there, and very little of what they said was distributed beyond Hyde Park or recorded for posterity. I'm lucky enough to have seen a couple of people speak there, and they were both rather... eccentric. And even they didn't stand there all day, every day giving their opinions on everything that happened.

I think that’s great.

I don’t believe in living in fear of how people might react.

Of course I choose my battles; and I don’t walk up to strangers and tell them their baby is ugly. But that’s not being suppressed, IMHO.

And I don’t keep narrow-minded people among my close friends.

You can get the best of both worlds. Stop worrying too much about what you think and say, like you mentioned; and also stop engaging on Twitter.

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