This is a post idea I’ve had for a while now… I’m trying to feel out where I lie on certain issues. Many issues are complex and require a nuanced position, but I’m going to attempt to simplify some of my thoughts here. 

Methodology. Read various articles, takes notes on them, distill the main points, and reflect on my personal takeaways. When applicable, I’ll link to the notes.

Opinions are never set in stone. I enjoy hearing contrasting viewpoints, and may come along and change these periodically.

• Philosophy | We should not shrink from the truth even if the truth might challenge our beliefs. | Notes
• Philosophy | It’s not reasonable to force people to believe an ideology. People can be forced to espouse it, but they can’t be forced to believe it. | Notes
• Discourse | Long-form conversation is the best method for sharing and refining ideas. | Notes
• Discourse | Because of the complete acceptance of trans ideology, it has become extremely difficult to have a real discussion about the movement. | Notes
• Discourse | The mainstream media is terrible at facilitating an honest discussion about race and racism. | Notes
• Discourse | Young people are going to say and do a lot of dumb stuff, and we need to cut them some slack. Especially in today’s digital climate where all their stupid misdeeds are published and remembered forever on the internet.
• Discourse | Resist the temptation to be outraged over a single instance of anything (a person’s action or words). Like an ideology, it’s too easy to simplify a person. Their truth is probably more nuanced. Take the time to understand their context.
• Discourse | People should be allowed to say toxic shit on the internet. Censoring, muting, or de-platforming people because of words they’ve said is wrong. Allow these people to swing their fist. Once it crosses the threshold of physical harm,  they should be restrained. | Current Event: Twitter banning. Sargon of Akkad deplatformed from Patreon.
• Discourse | I do not expect everyone to think like I do, nor do I necessarily want to change your mind. I want to have a good faith discussion with you. As much as you might annoy me, I will try to see it from your perspective, and I hope you’ll do likewise for me.
• Discourse | Public intellectuals are not responsible for the shit their fan-base (or hate-base) says or does. | Current Event: YouTube trying to make content creators responsible for their comment sections. Jordan Peterson being pictured with a person holding a Pepe the Frog flag.
• Religion | Belief systems are intrinsic to human intelligence and survival. They frame the constant flow of  our experiences.  | Notes
• Religion | Politics cannot fill the gap made by declining influence of religion.  | Notes
• Religion | A society that doesn’t respect religion or art cannot be called a civilization.  | Notes
• Ethics | Raising and killing animals for their meat is ethically questionable. | Notes
• Politics | I have no problem referring to people with their preferred pronoun. I have a problem with the state forcing me to do so under the threat of a “hate speech” violation. | Notes
• Politics | Major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube need to take a laissez-faire approach to speech or else they will need to take personal responsibility for the content on their sites. | E.g. Public utilities (e.g. phone companies) don’t take responsibility for opinions broadcasted via their services. Newspapers curate content because they are responsible for it. So… is FB/YT/TW a public utility or a curated website?
• Feminism | Women students or employees should know their rights and speak up to defend them. However, the #MeToo movement has gone seriously off track.  | Notes
• Feminism | Women should have equal opportunity to advance in professional and political realms. I oppose special protections for women because it is paternalistic and regressive.  | Notes
• Environment | Factory farming is not great for the environment. | Notes
• Environment | Small-scale farming is not better for the environment. | Notes
• Nutrition | Humans need meat in order to have a balanced diet.
• Psychology | Transgender kids in transition shouldn’t receive surgical alteration until they are 18. Even better would be to wait until they are at least 22. Offer every other therapy until then. | Notes
• Biology | It is not biologically possible for male to become female (vice-versa). But men can live as a woman if they choose to (vice-versa). | Notes
• Education | Western universities have been corrupted by postmodernism and it has done enormous damage to basic scholarly standards. | Notes
• Education |  A reading list should have a mixture of modern books informing on modern issues, but should also include great classics on which our literary culture was built. | Notes
• Education | Educators should be amenable to the possibility that the classics might need to be supplemented, or even replaced, by new books. | Notes