Kindly inquisitors
by Jonathan Rauch · first published 1993
9mentions
6recommended by
7HN commenters
2014–2023first – last mentioned
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues forcefully for free exchange of ideas and against censorship, framing open debate as the way bad ideas get weeded out; short and readable, suited to anyone interested in free speech and how public debate works.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…completely against any censorship, especially government censorship, of ideas. I believe in the liberal values of free exchange of ideas (or "Liberal Science" as Jonathan Rauch calls it, in his excellent book, Kindly Inquisitors).
on “YouTube's tendency to push everyday users toward politically extreme content” ↗I read Kindly Inquisitors by Jonathan Rauch[0] earlier this year which makes a fantastic argument against the limitation of free speech. It was written over twenty years ago. While I wholeheartedly agree with Rauch's position,…
on “Student “safety” has become a real threat to free speech on campus” ↗Read "Kindly Inquisitors" if you'd like a very thoughtful defense of Enlightenment ideas as it pertains to knowledge and speech. If you're impressed with someones prediction from 2012 then you'll be more amazed with someones…
on “Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission” ↗…light of day, they begin to fester sort of like social rot. Or worst, people turn to violence. Free speech is not only about being heard, but about weeding out bad ideas. A great book on the subject is Kindly Inquisitors by Jonathan Rauch. He can explain the importance of free speech much gooderer than I ever could. :)
on “Gab is suing Google for allegedly violating antitrust laws” ↗One of my favorite books is “Kindly Inquisitors” by Jonathan Rauch. Highly recommended. One of its core messages is that accusations of bias are often used to stop debate - without addressing the substance of the argument. The strongest response to…
on “Meta deletes Al Jazeera presenter’s profile after show criticising Israel” ↗Read “Kindly Inquisitors” by Johnathan Rausch and then read it again. It should be required reading in schools which, ironically, would be against his entire argument.
on “The Social Media Problem” ↗…is above this. No one is an oracle. The thought that came from The Enlightenment to philosophers like Karl Popper to modern authors like Johnathan Rausch explain this better than I can here. I’d read “Kindly Inquisitors” if you have a bit of time (pretty short overall) to get a better understanding of these ideas. We have a series of liberal democracies in the West for a reason and it isn’t a fluke. Countless wars,…
on “The Social Media Problem” ↗You might find this essay by Jonathan Rauch to be interesting reading: http://reason.com/archives/1993/04/01/the-truth-hurts-the-hu... The book this was derived from, "Kindly Inquisitors", was recently reissued, and what a timely reissue!
on “The Hypocrisy Of Sam Yagan and OkCupid ” ↗…disagree, it's inherently democratic. The scientific method is all about making mistakes and trying again. Discourse is all about sharing knowledge. Open societies do this effectively. Jonathan Rauch, in Kindly Inquisitors (1993) wrote, > Authoritarian systems have their intellectual giants. What they lack is the capacity to organize and exploit their masses of middling thinkers. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=uZUVAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA74...…
on “Show HN: Reveddit.com: Improving online discourse with transparent moderation” ↗