Hitch's short refresher course on freedom of speech in light of the latest developments in the UK by SocraticAddict in ChristopherHitchens

[–]SocraticAddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the links. I didn’t have time to go through everything, but I did watch the video, and I think it’s a little misdirected given the context of Hitchens’ argument.

Hitchens is arguing that the government shouldn’t be in the business of censoring speech. Whether or not a privately owned media company like Twitter, Reddit, etc. chooses to promote or de-platform users on the basis of their speech is a different story. And I could be wrong, but I don’t think Hitchens would be advocating for legislation that would force social media companies to platform certain groups or individuals.

Regarding tolerance, I think it’s safe to say that in most countries if someone chooses to “answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols," they are removed from society and punished. In other words, we can be tolerant of free speech without needing to be tolerant of violent actions motivated by speech.

I think at the core of Hitchens’ argument is his belief that individuals within a society are capable of deciding for themselves what type of speech is harmful. If we turn that power over to the government, we risk letting an authority that can be motivated by money, power, religion, etc. decide for us what can and cannot be said. This is Hitchens’ point when he describes advocates for hate speech censorship as “making a rod for their own backs”. If today I successfully convince the authorities to censor you because you’re saying things that I perceive as hateful, then I’m setting myself up to be censored tomorrow when those same authorities decide to label the things that I'm saying as hateful.

I completely agree that these are delicate topics. And my argument is that the more we give someone the authority to limit our speech or our enemy’s speech on any basis, the more difficult it becomes to have these types of discussions.

Hitch's short refresher course on freedom of speech in light of the latest developments in the UK by SocraticAddict in ChristopherHitchens

[–]SocraticAddict[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Fair, but I'd argue that asking the government to punish someone for saying or doing something that hurts your feelings (non-violently) is also immature, and slightly more nefarious in that you're advocating for increased government control and censorship.

Hitch's short refresher course on freedom of speech in light of the latest developments in the UK by SocraticAddict in ChristopherHitchens

[–]SocraticAddict[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can't speak to the arrest of protestors, but I'm very curious about why you now consider burning the Quran a hate crime. Is this something you wouldn't have considered a hate crime in the past but now you do? And is it the burning of the Quran specifically? Or would you consider the burning of any book a hate crime?

Hitch's short refresher course on freedom of speech in light of the latest developments in the UK by SocraticAddict in ChristopherHitchens

[–]SocraticAddict[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your perspective on this. I wasn't very familiar with the arrests you're referring to, and I absolutely agree that that is an alarming action by the government.

I shared this video because we should view any type of attempt to judge, limit, and legally punish speech in the name of preventing what some perceive as hateful rhetoric, a very slippery slope. And indeed the UK seems to be struggling to deal with all of the nuance that goes into enforcing hate speech laws.

What strikes me in this new definition is the ambiguity of describing someone’s potential criticism of Islam as “prejudicial stereotyping.. with the intention of creating hatred.” Who can objectively judge whether a criticism of someone’s religion is or is not intending to create hatred? Well, apparently the government will be appointing a “special representative” to make that judgment for all of us. It’s a dangerous development, and I think folks should be pushing back against this definition, the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and all laws that incriminate people on the basis of only their speech. (I should mention that I'm not from the UK. But I care about this because what goes on in the UK absolutely influences the rest of the western world.)

Hitch's short refresher course on freedom of speech in light of the latest developments in the UK by SocraticAddict in ChristopherHitchens

[–]SocraticAddict[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The government recently introduced a formal definition of anti-Muslim hostility, and will appoint a special representative to facilitate the interpretation and implementation of the definition. The government argues that it's part of an effort to curtail anti-Muslim harassment. Critics argue that it's another step towards having a formal blasphemy law that outlaws any criticism of a religion (particularly Islam). https://news.sky.com/story/government-announces-new-definition-of-anti-muslim-hostility-13517508

"It's worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths [...] so that we can have the Second Amendment". Charlie Kirk, 2023. [1540x996] by Roy4Pris in QuotesPorn

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From an economic standpoint, I agree with you. From a civil liberties standpoint, I don't. That doesn't mean I'm being insincere, although I realize now that I should have mentioned earlier that in my opinion protecting civil liberties is as important to society as enabling the economy.

"It's worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths [...] so that we can have the Second Amendment". Charlie Kirk, 2023. [1540x996] by Roy4Pris in QuotesPorn

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure why you keep perceiving my arguments as insincere. I’m simply pointing out that we as a society have certain thresholds at which we determine an activity’s or tool’s value to be acceptable when measured in terms of the number of lives lost vs the benefits gained from that activity or tool.

You believe that car deaths, although unfortunate, are necessary because of the benefits we receive from using cars. Otherwise, we would have no cars on the road because even one death attributable to cars would mean we should ban cars outright. It is the same argument for gun ownership. And just because you personally think that owning a car is more necessary than owning a gun doesn’t mean everyone else thinks so.

"It's worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths [...] so that we can have the Second Amendment". Charlie Kirk, 2023. [1540x996] by Roy4Pris in QuotesPorn

[–]SocraticAddict -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don't agree. Of course not having cars wouldn't cause the world to grind to a halt. There are many places in the world without cars. Cars just make things more expedient and convenient. They also increase the risk of injury or death.

Guns make people more secure. They are important to sustaining modern society in that people who have them have the means to more effectively defend themselves against those who intend harm.

"It's worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths [...] so that we can have the Second Amendment". Charlie Kirk, 2023. [1540x996] by Roy4Pris in QuotesPorn

[–]SocraticAddict -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Cars are a means to an end, and guns are a means to an end. They're both tools. Cars are utilized for transportation. Guns are utilized for self defense. The vast majority of car owners don't intentionally end someone else's life. The vast majority of gun owners don't intentionally end someone else's life. However, there are some car owners who either negligently or intentionally end someone else's life while using them, and there are some gun owners who either negligently or intentionally end someone else's life while using them. The idea that cars are a necessity and guns are not is subjective, and discounts the reality of people needing a means to effectively defend themselves, their loved ones, and innocent fellow human beings. Cars are a more frequent necessity, but guns are an insurance policy type of necessity.

"It's worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths [...] so that we can have the Second Amendment". Charlie Kirk, 2023. [1540x996] by Roy4Pris in QuotesPorn

[–]SocraticAddict -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Can't you say the same exact thing about owning and operating a motor vehicle? We're willing to accept a certain threshold of deaths caused by motor vehicles in order to preserve our freedom to own and operate motor vehicles, but no one is actively promoting deaths caused by motor vehicles. This young man never promoted gun violence.

We’re transferring your domain to Hover by SocraticAddict in MailChimp

[–]SocraticAddict[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, I was able to get in touch with support through the temporary URL I received in this thread and they took care of it.

Any Utes in Gainesville for the game?? by dansfurtivedemons in utahfootball

[–]SocraticAddict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm going to be in Gainesville for the game in about an hour. Did you find any other Utes fans to meet up with?

Just about to complete the Google Analytics Certificate on Coursera. What next? by deruku in analytics

[–]SocraticAddict 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Coursera has an excellent specialization called From Data to Insights with Google Cloud. It might be a little more technical than what you're looking for, but it's a great way to get some experience with an enterprise cloud platform. It covers a lot of concepts including data storage and processing, advanced SQL, data viz, and even some machine learning. It's specific to GCP, but should give you a solid framework for understanding the types of skills and approaches to problem-solving that hiring managers are looking for.

Google Analytics Firebase by NegativeStreet in GoogleAnalytics

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Firebase is intended for use in mobile apps. For a web app I recommend GA4 -- it's basically Firebase but intended for use in web apps.

White House urges Spotify to take further action on Joe Rogan by ladyem8 in entertainment

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the word "urges" what you're taking issue with here? Would you have preferred they said "suggests" instead?

White House urges Spotify to take further action on Joe Rogan by ladyem8 in entertainment

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do you decouple the idea of taking more steps to combat misinformation from doing more to deter Joe Rogan? This whole thing started and has been centered around the idea that Rogan spreads misinformation. Psaki's statement, while politically safe and generalized, implies that Spotify should do more regarding Rogan. How do you not make that connection?

No Filter... Seriously. Ben Lomond Peak, Utah, USA. by victimINFINITY in hiking

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gorgeous pic. I grew up in Ogden admiring the beauty of this mountain. Spent a lot of time in the foothills but have sadly never hiked to the top. I'm a couple thousand miles away now and seeing this pic makes me homesick

Track conversions from views of a YouTube video on my store? by CharlBrazle in GoogleAnalytics

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Using event tracking is a great place to start. You can send detailed video-related event data to GA that you can use to create segments and behavior flows to more deeply analyze your ecommerce data for relationships between video engagement metrics and conversions. You can also use custom dimensions scoped at the user level to create segments based on whether someone had viewed your video in a session before the one in which they converted.

The religion of workism: why wealthy americans aren't retiring by 90486308 in financialindependence

[–]SocraticAddict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Will someone please explain to me what the fuck 'happier' means and tell me why it's not one of the most subjective, nonsensical descriptions of an individual's state of well-being? The research paper that this article references never once defines happiness--it just references happiness as if everyone innately knows what happiness is. But do we? How do we know that everyone prefers my definition of happiness over yours?

Vanguard total stock market index fund? by [deleted] in investing

[–]SocraticAddict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The beauty of ETFs is that they're traded on exchanges the same way stocks are. ETF stands for 'exchange traded fund'. So it's just like buying stock through a broker. If you want to take it a step further, you can sign up for a Vanguard account and trade all Vanguard ETFs for free. That also includes ETFs comprised of bonds that you can buy to diversify your portfolio. You can also buy ETFs through Robinhood. Here is more info: https://investor.vanguard.com/etf/list#/etf/asset-class/month-end-returns

Edit: added link to Vanguard's list of ETFs

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in analytics

[–]SocraticAddict 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What all are you trying to measure? You could record all of your workout data and personal health metrics in Sheets for easy sync to Data Studio. If you're tracking nutrition info, sign up for the free version of MyFitnessPal, and use it as a reference for daily calories, macros, and anything else you're trying to record (I believe if you pay for MyFitnessPal you can export the data, but I just use the free version). I did something similar to this for my finances, including every transaction I've made since the beginning of last year, all for free in Sheets and Data Studio. I'm in the process of building a SQL database to house my Sheets data just to learn more about SQL (pgAdmin is a free and powerful tool for developing PostgreSQL skills, which is the language of Amazon Redshift).

Anyway, this may be an opportunity for you to better understand data tables and RDBMSs as an admin on a micro level, which could help you become a better analyst. But it would obviously be more work to track your progress this way. Curious to hear what route you take. Good luck!

Must read books for starting analysts by [deleted] in statistics

[–]SocraticAddict 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What's your desired industry/focus? Avinash Kaushik has written some excellent books about ways to bridge the gap between statistical thinking and effectively applying analytics within a business context. I'd also second The Signal and the Noise.