Censorship is the Tool of Intellectual Cowards - Nullius in Verba

It’s time to start calling them what they are: Intellectual cowards.

Anyone who cheerleads for censorship, or says things like “trust the science” or tries to cancel someone in any way is being an intellectual coward.

Subverting scrutiny - and likely their own beliefs - in order to fit in with cultural peer pressure is the opposite of bravery. Canceling individuals for their ideas chills the discussion and prevents others from taking brave stands in the future. It harms us all in this way.

If an idea is bad it should be exposed by better ideas, plain and simple. There is no authority to truth. Just discovery of new truths in an endless onion-layered universe.

The only kind of intellectual bravery that exists is by going against cultural peer pressure. Going with the culture while targeting individuals instead of ideas is just a form of cowardly bullying. Anyone can do it, risk free. It requires zero vulnerability.

The good news is, there seems to be a cultural shift happening. More and more people are calling it as they see it. Bravery is on the rise again, and it should be honored by all of us.

When confronted with new ideas, “nullius in verba” is how the brave intellectuals respond.

”Nullius in Verba” is Latin shorthand from Horace, the full quote being - ‘Nullius addictus judicare in verba magestri’ - which translates into the gold-standard of objectivity: "Not compelled to swear to any master's words." Or in shorthand, “Take nobody’s word.”

If your point of view is so good, then be the man in the arena with it. Present your idea openly and with vulnerability. Permit scrutiny. Allow for criticism. Denounce censorship. And display it with utter transparency - including who funded your research and all conflicts of interest.

Call out the intellectual cowards who try to silence discourse with censorship. And praise the intellectually brave who stand out on the limbs with their ideas, even when they are wrong, and especially when the crowds and masses of people are herding the other way against them.

In a war over information, it is the intellectually brave who are the heroes.

Let’s be that, together.

Thanks for reading!

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NOTE: This is a reprint from our article from last year, with added nuances.

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