MarkusRamikin comments on Undiscriminating Skepticism - Less Wrong

97 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 14 March 2010 11:23PM

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Comment author: MarkusRamikin 26 September 2011 08:09:25AM *  6 points [-]

One thing I'm afraid of is that the forces of political correctness would only permit inquiring into sensitive topics as long as the questions are framed and definitions (of things such as "intelligence") redefined to such a state, that it's not possible to get a politically incorrect answer, facts be damned.

Is it irrational to find it quite troubling that someone you're talking to would want to discuss the issue of whether one race is inferior to another race, for any reason?

I don't know if it's "irrational", but I find it troubling when someone wishes to discourage inquiring - for any reason, at that! - into some topic. Whenever that happens, I smell a conflict between free inquiry and a moral fashion. It's pretty obvious to me which side I should take there...

Yes, some topics are more dangerous than others, more politically loaded or likely to offend or difficult to reduce. But to me it also means they are promising. Widely held views on such a topic are at least somewhat likely to prove incorrect.

I don't think we're qualified to answer this last set of questions.

We're not qualified, and we never will be, and we shouldn't ever hope or try to be?