In the vein of my previous post about fostering discussion, I have another question for readers: have you ever substantially changed your mind about something on the basis of an argument you read here? If so, which post did it?
climate change activist and science communicator; event photographer; amateur mapmaker — advocate for a stable global climate, reduced nuclear weapon risks, and safe human-AI interaction
In the vein of my previous post about fostering discussion, I have another question for readers: have you ever substantially changed your mind about something on the basis of an argument you read here? If so, which post did it?
Milan,
I do learn a lot by reading your blog, but I don’t recall outright rejecting a long-held belief as a result of reading a single argument presented here. I think that would be an unfair expectation for you to have, as there are very few instances where reading a single argument has led me immediately to a complete paradigm shift. It is, however, possible that I would have read something here that made me consider an issue more thoroughly, and that this thought process led me to a conclusion to which I wouldn’t have otherwise arrived. But it is often difficult to trace such a thought process to its origin.
In any case, I do think that my understanding of the issues do become more nuanced, as a result of reading your entries and the discussion posts of others. I enjoy the thought that you put into your posts, and that makes me come back fairly often to see what new topic you’ve blogged about.
I thoroughly enjoy your blog, Milan. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Ed
I like your no-nonsense attitude towards torture. While I am also anti-torture, I have found your absolutist stance to be persuasive.
I refuse to take a stand on torture, because I refuse to admit it has entered into the public discourse as something that people can hold positions about.
Taking a stand on torture is like taking a stand on whether the holocaust happened or not.
“I refuse to take a stand on torture, because I refuse to admit it has entered into the public discourse as something that people can hold positions about.”
It is important for us to speak out, even if we feel opposing torture is obvious.
A Calgary journalist just this week defended the entire Guantanamo Bay operations, using his Brilliant Calgarian Logic that if someone in a position of authority is doing it, therefore it must be right.