If it was nature or it escaped from the lab without help, then it really doesn't matter to me.
So 90% of your response was that people were skeptical and said things counter to one person's post, so it was irritating, and they weren't very nice about it. And then this quote at the end. Again, exactly my point. In the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter. I recognize we have posters who tend to express their opinion strongly and demand proof and evidence of claims, and then dispute and challenge those claims, that is normal discourse and how progress works, people don't just "take your word for it" very much, but that is how we get robust ideas and move forward as a society, but challenging new ideas to be proven. But I do not think that translates into...
Communication and Information being shut down by people, business or government because they want others to believe their "truth".
At least not here in Jazz Fanz.
Really in any exchange there are people who support ideas, and those who have other ideas, and those skeptical of all of the ideas on one side or another. You also see reactions that might be rude, or hostile, or supportive, or dismissive, or name a response (just check twitter for the full gamut of ****). If you haven't noticed these guys have been dealing with some pretty obvious trollery for a while now, actually for a long time, and yes there are trolls everywhere, I get that. But that means you are likely seeing more harsh responses to counter information than you might see otherwise. It isn't an excuse, it is just the nature of the beast at this point. This is why I have bowed out of most of these conversations and have put certain folks on ignore.
I agree that freedom of speech is just about the most important freedom we have. But that doesn't mean freedom from disagreement or even ridicule, or rudeness, or whatever you want to call it. Throw out a new idea, it is bound to get strong detractors, especially if it is bucking the currently known and accepted information. It has nothing to do with "truth", really, it has to do with the fact that we as humans have a hard time separating our ideas and beliefs from our sense of self, so it can feel like a personal attack and people tend to respond accordingly. I do not think you really believe that anyone here is dogmatically trying to institutionalize their version of "truth" into Jazz Fanz or wherever else, not in this group of posters. We have some hard-core separatists, some pragmatists, some conciliators, and some wild cards, so pretty much what you get in any group like this. I think overall the majority of the group leans left, some very strongly, but part of that is due to the fact that much of what the right espouses is viewed as, and even in some cases objectively proven to be, straight up lunacy and dangerous. That will tend to push people who hover in he middle in the other direction. So being somewhat right leaning you and others may be facing an uphill battle here.
But I for one have welcomed your point of view because it is more balanced than others pushing the agenda more on the right of the spectrum. But I do not believe anyone is trying to shut anyone else down entirely. Requiring evidence and proof is reasonable, especially when the claimed ideas are not as well established or supported as current idea, such as the wuhan virus. We had all kinds of medical professions and scientists who established it was wild in origin. Then we had a random, non-scientific arm of the federal government claiming it came from a lab, and people were skeptical and asked for more proof, more evidence, and imo rightly so. That is reasonable. And if someone acts like it is unreasonable, or they are unwilling to analyze their sources and reject those that are unreliable or insufficient, well that is where we start to get into the realm of conspiracy theories. Same goes for not being willing to analyze someone else's sources and accept when they are well-reasoned and fact-based and are evidence-based, and again, being willing to adjust their opinion accordingly.
But getting humans to change their minds once they are made up is very difficult. That tie in to the sense of self is strong reinforcement to stick with what we know, and reject anything that runs counter to it. And get a bunch of like-minded people together and group-think is bound to happen. Doesn't mean there cannot be discourse, but you cannot expect every new idea to be accepted fully with open arms without strong debate. That just isn't how it works.
