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submitted 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) by Voidian@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world

Anarchy is very cool, until someone has the wrong opinion.

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[-] OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world 1 points 34 minutes ago

in misanthropy we call this being human

[-] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 0 points 24 minutes ago

It's all about powerplay and finding the best rhetoric that plays best with your level of charisma to try to whitewash it with. Sometimes it's also used as a filter because it inherently attract a certain type of person in those communities sort of like r/conservative in reddit attracts a certain type of person. The modern social network is a lot about being able to create and grow your own cults on demand.

[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

The anarchist code of conduct

fucking morons

[-] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 2 points 4 hours ago

I think "being able to select which community(ies) one is part of and having the ability to opt out" vs being born into it is a key differentiator.

Fwiw, I'm not part of any moderating teams.

[-] BonkTheAnnoyed@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 10 hours ago

Okay, I'll bite. I need to add to my block list anyway.

Y'all have heard of the Nazi Bar problem, right? Paradox of intolerance? Which turns out not to be a paradox after all? You should def look that one up rather than waiting for me to type it all out.

[-] lmmarsano@group.lt 3 points 1 hour ago

Y’all have heard of the Nazi Bar problem, right?

Bullshit genetic or reductio ad hitlerum fallacy. Carried to its logical conclusion, anything tainted by Nazis (eg, the universe) is a Nazi bar. Have you considered finding yourself another universe to inhabit, since this one is irredeemably tainted? While we may argue the universe is far too vast to be a "Nazi bar", so is the internet or any "platform".

Worse, censoring ideas gives them covert power. It doesn't discredit them or strip them of power like challenging them in a public forum could. It's also a disservice to better ideas

  • it withholds opportunities for people to become competent enough advocates to discredit bad ideas
  • instead of deradicalize opponents, it drives their discussion elsewhere: they continue to radicalize & grow opposition unchallenged.

Censorship is incompetent advocacy: it mistakes suppressing the expression of bad ideas for effective advocacy that directly discredits bad ideas, develops intellectual growth, and steers toward better ideas.

Paradox of intolerance?

The bogus social media version subverting the original message or the real one?

text alternative

The True Paradox of Tolerance

By philosopher Karl Popper[^popper-source]

You think you know the Popper Paradox thanks to this? (👉 comic from pictoline.com)

Karl Popper: I never said that!

Popper argued that society via its institutions should have a right to prohibit those who are intolerant.

Karl Popper: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance.

For Popper, on what grounds may society suppress the intolerant? When they "are not prepared to meet on the level of rational argument" "they forbid their followers to listen to rational argument … & teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols". The argument of the intolerably intolerant is force & violence.

We misconstrue this paradox at our peril … to the extent that one group could declare another group 'intolerant' just to prohibit their ideas, speech & other freedoms.

Grave sign: "The Intolerant" RIP
Underneath it lies a pile of symbols for Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Black power. A leg labeled tolerance kicks the Gay Pride symbol into the pile.

Muchas gracias a @lokijustice y asivaespana.com

Karl Popper opposed censorship/argued for free inquiry & open discourse.

I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be most unwise.

Censorship (or willfully blinding ourselves to information) plays no part in suppressing authoritarianism.

Only cowards fear words. Words are not the danger. It's the dangerous people whose words we fail to discredit.

[^popper-source]: Source: The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl R. Popper

[-] Voidian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

People like to refer to the paradox of tolerance but always skip out on the inconvenient bit:

""Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.

— In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be most unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols.

We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.""

If you are not able to rationally argue why we shouldn't be bigoted, I don't know what to tell you.

[-] CXORA@aussie.zone 10 points 5 hours ago

One problem with bigots is they dont care about truth or logic. Its a waste of time to continually argue the same points over and over again with people who refuse to learn or think.

[-] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

But remember, be sure that your point is logical and truthful, and not parroting talking points in spite of them being repeated all around you.

Being truthful and logical is not always a popular position. Some would say it's not even often the popular position.

[-] Voidian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 hours ago

You personally don't have to. Always plenty of people out there willing to do it for you.

[-] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

If you are not able to rationally argue why we shouldn’t be bigoted, I don’t know what to tell you.

it's not that people can't, but spaces which have unlimited tolerance for sealions suggesting that it's necessary to argue that are likely to have less interesting discussions than spaces which do not 🙄

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[-] Waveform@multiverse.soulism.net 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

i think people not knowing how to actually win an argument against a bigot is exactly the reason there are so many these days

shit's easy. not that they'll admit defeat but getting them babbling irrational nonsense takes very little debating skills. and when they inevitably start throwing ad hominems, then the mods have legitimate grounds to kick them out.

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[-] BonkTheAnnoyed@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 6 hours ago

Okay, that's just funny. Hi friend

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[-] fodor@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 hours ago

If people are trolling, they can get banned and troll elsewhere. That's common sense, right?

And one might say they didn't mean to troll, which just means they need to lurk moar.

[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 9 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

right-wingers aren't allowed on leftist spaces. nothing positive comes from that.

[-] SalamenceFury@piefed.social 21 points 13 hours ago

You know that anarchism doesn't mean no rules right? It just means no rulers, but that's not how it works on Lemmy or any social media of this type for that matter.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 3 points 9 hours ago

It just means no rulers, but that's not how it works

...anywhere in reality.

[-] SalamenceFury@piefed.social 5 points 8 hours ago

Humans spent thousands of years without rulers. Also, look at all the grassroots organizations trying to stop fascism in America right now.

Leaders are dispensable AND disposable. We do not need them.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 3 points 7 hours ago

Humans spent thousands of years without rulers.

orly? which thousands?

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 10 hours ago

I don't love moderating my communities at all. I barely even read the reports. 🤷‍♂️

[-] definitely_AI@feddit.online 46 points 16 hours ago

Looking at you, leftymemes

ugh

groupthink central, do NOT divert an inch from the state sanctioned opinions, OR ELSE

[-] yucandu@lemmy.world 37 points 13 hours ago

It's all fun and games until you say that China is wearing socialism as a cloak the same way America wears Christianity or Israel wears anti-semitism.

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[-] troed@fedia.io 34 points 16 hours ago

This is very true - I usually refer to it as "BOFH behavior". I think it stems from many people who end up hosting or moderating feeling that they themselves have been marginalised before so "now they're going to show them!".

A great example is a Mastodon instance where if you don't agree with the site's admin they'll block you at the server level instead of from their personal account. The belief is that if they have an opinion that opinion must then be enforced for everyone else under their control too.

[-] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 21 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

unmoderated internet spaces are quickly overrun with bigotry, csam, and spam.

if, in the name of "free speech", you only moderate the csam and spam, the space will be primarily occupied by people looking for a forum that welcomes bigotry.

respect to @db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com for rm'ing bigotry and not letting childish anarchist free speech ideals cause lemmy.dbzer0.com to be a nazi bar 🥂

see also:

[-] Voidian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 16 hours ago

It's a misunderstanding of anarchy to equate it with either total chaos or total control. True anarchism is about opposing coercive authority, not creating a new, rigid authority that dictates what discourse is acceptable.

You can absolutely oppose bigotry and harm (which are coercive actions) without resorting to silencing anyone who doesn't conform to a specific ideological viewpoint. Genuine community defense is about voluntary association and preventing harassment, not about restricting the exchange of ideas.

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this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
201 points (83.4% liked)

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