Yuval Noah Harari: ‘The idea of free information is extremely dangerous'

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/aug/05/yuval-noah-harari-free-information-extremely-dangerous-interview-21-lessons

by peterlk • 8 years ago

6 3 8 years ago

theguardian.com

AnimalMuppet2• 8 years ago

Liberalism is based on the assumption that you have privileged access to your own inner world of feelings and thoughts and choices, and nobody outside you can really understand you. This is why your feelings are the highest authority in your life...

I'm not an expert on the humanities, but that's sure not what I think liberalism is.

BTW, the headline is extremely misleading. The quote from the article is, "The idea of free information is extremely dangerous when it comes to the news industry." Well, yes, it is.

nanis• 8 years ago

that's sure not what I think liberalism is

I haven't read the article, but he is probably referring to Classical Liberalism[1].

    Up until around 1900, this ideology was generally known
    simply as liberalism.  The qualifying "classical" is
    now usually necessary, in English-speaking countries at
    least (but not, for instance, in France), because
    liberalism has come to be associated with wide-ranging
    interferences with private property and the market on
    behalf of egalitarian goals[2].

[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism

[2] https://mises.org/library/what-classical-liberalism

AnimalMuppet2• 8 years ago

Actually, "classical liberalism" is what I thought, too. But from the Wikipedia article:

Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism which advocates civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on economic freedom.

From the Mises article:

"Classical liberalism" is the term used to designate the ideology advocating private property, an unhampered market economy, the rule of law, constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and of the press, and international peace based on free trade.

To me, neither of those looks very much like "Liberalism is based on the assumption that you have privileged access to your own inner world of feelings and thoughts and choices, and nobody outside you can really understand you. This is why your feelings are the highest authority in your life..."

Yuval Noah Harari: ‘The idea of free information is extremely dangerous'

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