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Comment by blitzar | Hacker News Reader

> parroting the apparent consensus opinions

> People should try to become a bit more resilient of diverse opinions

Why is it hard to accept the "diverse opinion" that children were shot and killed at a school shooting, and that their parents were not actors trying to steal your guns from you? Does it trigger you that you didnt need to form a crew and go round and set them straight?

Here is a diverse opinion for you - not everything that happens in the world is done by crisis actors trying to force you to have interracial gay sex while taking your gun from you and giving it to an illegal immigrant.

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Is it ok not to believe everything that is shown on TV?

Is it ok not to believe that the government there to help?

Can having an unpopular opinion (opinion, not an action) be hateful? Does it demand action from self-appointed custodians of morality?

Do you know the truth? Do you know the difference between right and wrong? Is it ok to act against someone who says 'wrong things'?

> opinion, not an action

Holding an opinion is not an action.

Going on twitter and banging on about your opinion is an action.

You're confused.

Expressing your opinion, even on twitter, is an act of (written, typed) speech.

Preventing someone from expressing themselves, when they have done no wrong, is an action.

An act of speech is an action.

Preventing someone from expressing themselves is an action.

To clarify, I mean an action against another person.

This is as per the golden rule, do no harm. If you speak, you are doing no harm. If you prevent someone speaking, you are.

the use of propaganda, which is effective, trivially invalidates your statement asserting that speech can do no harm.

But who is propagandising who?

Who has the truth? Is it the government and the media, or are they the worst of the worst? How would you know what the truth is? Is the truth a consensus, or can everyone be wrong? In this technological age, it is easy to conceive how a false message can be disseminated widely. How can you discern truth from reality?

In the absence of certainty, you have to allow the free flow of information. You might think that people are screening/filtering information for you, but it is surely evident that they can also be doing this for their own benefit?

Information is power, as it drives your beliefs, and then your actions.

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