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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024

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Holocaust denial got the most clicks. But centrists don't like that so they want it banned. So screw any principle or fairness, I should just have my way because 'reasons'.

Right now Google is infested by SEO spam and SEO spam, of course, gets the most clicks. By your reasoning, Google should be sending people to the SEO spam and should not try to get rid of it in search results. It "gets the most clicks" because Google promotes it, you cannot use the clicks as a reason to say why Google should promote it--that's circular reasoning.

Holocaust denial is neither something that many people want (since they want truthful things and it's false) nor something that many people produce (since it comes from an extreme minority). So Google should in fact be not showing it prominently in search results that don't specifically ask for it.

Funnily enough, that's how the people banning 'conservative' stuff think. They see a tiny portion of the population.

"It's a tiny percentage" is false for conservatives and true for Holocaust deniers. That's a big difference; being true or false actually matters.

By your reasoning, Google should be sending people to the SEO spam and should not try to get rid of it in search results.

Are you playing antagonistic defense for some particular reason?

Search is at least partly supposed to be a popularity contest.

This is what you said. How is Stormfront comparable to SEO spam? Yes, I think Google should remove predatory sites that, for instance, try to put malware on your system. Everyone does. That's kind of obvious, no?

Holocaust denial is neither something that many people want (since they want truthful things and it's false)

It won out the algorithm. The people looking up the holocaust and related stuff obviously clicked on it. You saying that people don't want that kind of stuff is just you saying it. Actual reality is different. Wanting to play veto by your feelings is not a good or fair. Don't think so? Don't lament progressives banning your 'conservative' conspiracy theory hogwash. They're just playing by your rules.

"It's a tiny percentage" is false for conservatives and true for Holocaust deniers. That's a big difference; being true or false actually matters.

It's not false. It's true. That's the difference you need to understand. You might think you can prove it but you wont receive the platform or information to do so. Those are the rules you follow when dealing with the holocaust and they are the exact same for wingnut nonsense. How can you complain? The situation could not be any more symmetrical. You decide truth for the holocaust and ban it. Progressives decide truth for 'conservatives' and ban it.

The people looking up the holocaust and related stuff obviously clicked on it.

Because it was on top of Google. You are trying to justify putting it on top of Google by saying that people clicked on it, but people only clicked on it because it was on top of Google. That's circular reasoning.

It's not false. It's true.

Oh come on now. Holocaust deniers really are a tiny, tiny, minority. Conservatives aren't.

You decide truth for the holocaust and ban it.

No, the world does. Holocaust deniers are a tiny minority, and they state false things.

Progressives decide truth for 'conservatives' and ban it.

Are you seriously suggesting that we should pay no attention to truth because someone might think false things are true?

Because it was on top of Google.

And why was it on top of Google? Do the people clicking the link need your protection? They can't read something on their own? Why not? What might happen? They might believe something you don't personally approve of?

You are trying to justify putting it on top of Google by saying that people clicked on it, but people only clicked on it because it was on top of Google. That's circular reasoning.

I am not saying that anyone should put it on top of Google. I am saying it should not have been removed if we are trying to uphold any sort of liberal/centrist fairness across the board. It was a website doing exactly as advertised. 'Top 10 Reasons Why the Holocaust Didn't Happen'. That was the link, that was what people clicked. It wasn't predatory, it didn't have malware. It did exactly as advertised. It was only removed because a certain minority of people didn't like it there. There was no mass movement, no popular sentiment. Just a few journalists and philosemites leveraging power.

Oh come on now. Holocaust deniers really are a tiny, tiny, minority. Conservatives aren't.

You keep oscillating between 'true/false' and 'minority', it's annoying but still besides the point. It doesn't matter how many programmers use C++ vs C#, you can't ban one from the results because you feel like most people, in your particular context, which you arbitrarily decide to favor your argument, don't use one or the other. The people using Google click those links. They get bumped to the top. As soon as you have an arbiter above that process that can decide what is and isn't true you are bound by their will. That's the precedent you set. Stop complaining about it. The fact you surround yourself with the opinion of a bunch of idiots from the US doesn't change what's actually true for the global majority.

Are you seriously suggesting that we should pay no attention to truth because someone might think false things are true?

No, I'm seriously suggesting you start reading what I write instead of cutting it into bites you can twist out of context and lie about. What I am suggesting is that you can't even have a discussion on whether or not something is true or not if you ban it. If you do that you've already decided what is true and what is false. Not just for you but for everyone else who is deprived of information they might otherwise have used to find out. Case in point being Dachau.

Why does every folly of censorship have to be trotted out to people like you? You want to ban your outgroup. So do progressives. You don't have an argument. You're just mad your false beliefs get banned. Want to prove they're true? Try Google. Oh wait...

And why was it on top of Google?

As the unintentional effect of stupid algorithms. Again, by your reasoning since a lot of people click on spam, they want to read spam.

You keep oscillating between 'true/false' and 'minority'

It's both.

What I am suggesting is that you can't even have a discussion on whether or not something is true or not if you ban it.

It's not banned. It's just not shown to people who want something else. People who actually want will still get it if they search for it. You're acting as if Google won't return Holocaust denial no matter what you do. They're not doing that. They're not even making it difficult to find.

Besides, there is no "discussion" except among a tiny minority.

Ss the unintentional effect of stupid algorithms.

The algorithm was fine. You saying it's 'unintentional' is just you saying it because you don't feel good about it. By the same token every 'conservative' wingnut nonsense is 'unintentionally' there as well and can by removed by the same reasoning. All you need to do that is someone who feels like you do about the holocaust, except about wingnut stuff.

Again, by your reasoning since a lot of people click on spam, they want to read spam.

That's obviously not the reasoning. Like I already said, everyone agrees that malicious things like malware or other things designed to scam money out of you are bad. People open spam thinking it's something it's not. No one opened 'Top 10 Reasons The Holocaust Didn't Happen' expecting anything else than what it says.

It's not banned. It's just not shown to people who want something else. People who actually want will still get it if they search for it. You're acting as if Google won't return Holocaust denial no matter what you do. They're not doing that. They're not even making it difficult to find.

Same is true for 'conservatives'? What is your problem here with anything exactly?

Besides, there is no "discussion" except among a tiny minority.

There are more people who don't believe in the holocaust than there are American 'conservatives'.

The algorithm was fine. You saying it's 'unintentional' is just you saying it because you don't feel good about it.

I'm saying it's unintentional because it's unintentional.

Same is true for 'conservatives'? What is your problem here with anything exactly?

"Not shown to people who want something else" doesn't apply. Many people do want conservative viewpoints.

There are more people who don't believe in the holocaust than there are American 'conservatives'.

Google is not aimed at Saudi Arabia or Iran.

You provide no evidence or information that demonstrates how or why it should be considered 'unintentional'. You could say the same thing about any result you don't like. So it's just you saying it. I mean, 'conservative' results are 'unintentionally' there. So they get removed. No problem.

"Not shown to people who want something else" doesn't apply. Many people do want conservative viewpoints.

'Conservatives' want to see those viewpoints. They are a minority. Most people are not wingnuts.

Google is not aimed at Saudi Arabia or Iran.

Google is not aimed at 'conservatives' either, obviously.

Again, what is your problem here, exactly? You are OK with banning things you don't like. That's the line you draw. Even if it's just words that don't convey any immediate or credible threat to anyone. Other people do the exact same thing. Are you just mad they are doing it to you? Doesn't that invoke any sort of introspection into just what you were doing to others? Can you not recognize some sort of need for a mechanism that deals with this issue that serves a broader scope than just your feelings and whim?

That, at least, was my original impression of 'centrists' or classical liberals. I imagined they were looking for a principled system that could 'make it all work'. But as you've shown, and like many other ones I've engaged with have shown, they have no principles that reach beyond their own nose. They have no conception of a principled system that might leave them in the vulnerable position of having to tolerate things they don't like. They just believe themselves to be so rational and correct about everything that they can't even imagine that their own emotions could lead them astray. In fact, they predefine themselves as morally correct and then use their own emotions as a compass. Operating under the impression that they've ascended beyond personal bias and whatever else. The extent of the worldview is 'my reasons are good, other peoples reasons are bad'. And then we play this ridiculous game of words we've been playing in this comment chain.

'Conservatives' want to see those viewpoints. They are a minority.

There's a minority, being less than 50%, and there's a minority, being less than 1%. Conservatives are the first kind; Holocaust deniers the second, outside of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, which I have no qualms about saying Google should ignore.

Again, what is your problem here, exactly? You are OK with banning things you don't like.

Google is not banning Holocaust denial. Not showing it unless people ask for it isn't banning.

The extent of the worldview is 'my reasons are good, other peoples reasons are bad'.

What's the alternative to using reasons, even if you think your own are good and someone else's are bad--just don't use reasons?

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