Cancel Culture, Freedom of Speech, and Constructing Incentives for Better Discourse

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The speakers explore the concept of cancel culture and its impact on freedom of speech, emphasizing the need to incentivize high-quality debate and disagreement. They discuss the tactics used in cancel culture, such as 'what aboutism', and propose integrating a feature into social media platforms that identifies and addresses these rhetorical tricks. The chapter also delves into the influence of elite colleges on the ruling class and the unintended consequences of good intentions.

Greg Lukianoff is a free speech advocate, first-amendment attorney, president of FIRE – Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind and a new book The Canceling of the American Mind. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(10:49) – Cancel culture & freedom of speech
(25:21) – Left-wing vs right-wing cancel culture
(34:06) – Religion
(36:46) – College rankings by freedom of speech
(42:54) – Deplatforming
(57:29) – Whataboutism
(1:02:32) – Steelmanning
(1:10:08) – How the left argues
(1:20:48) – Diversity, equity, and inclusion
(1:32:39) – Why colleges lean left
(1:40:17) – How the right argues
(1:44:52) – Hate speech
(1:53:39) – Platforming
(2:03:10) – Social media
(2:24:17) – Depression
(2:35:48) – Hope