'Cancel Culture' I think is complex, it's complex because humans are complex,
and that's something we like to negate online.
We should not undermine how quickly people can change their ideas.
I know online it seems that people don't change their ideas,
because they are encouraged not to, but our ideas can change quite quickly.
And so to cancel people for tweets that they made years ago,
potentially even things they said last week I think it's just to lie to yourself.
It lacks a certain self-examination that I think is crucial.
If everybody was to act as though they've never said something homophobic,
especially if you've ever grown up in a strongly religious family,
I think you could be telling porkies (lies)
We talk so much about mental health and how important is,
how we have to remember that mental health is just as important as physical health.
and then to discard people at the first sign of something we dislike,
the two don't marry very well to me.
We undermine how easy it is for us to become the people that we dislike.
With a different circumstance, a different upbringing, a different culture,
how I could easily become a lot of the things that I dislike or find harmful.
And it's because of my own propensity to become those things,
I'm hesitant about labelling things evil.
I'm hesitant not because I don't think people can be ill intended,
I think that would be naive,
but I'm much more interested in the root causes as opposed to the symptoms.
How do we get to this state where people think that,
let's say sex is an entitlement for them?
People abuse power because we attribute it so easily to people.
We treat people with fame and money like they are inherently different.
I listen to a lot of music I read a lot of writers,
but my interest in them doesn't make them seem superior to me?
It doesn't negate the fact that they could be harmful people in their private life.
If we stop treating talent like it's synonymous with character,
I think we would be a lot less disappointed,
in entertainers and some of our favourite people.
If you have committed a crime a violent crime a sexual crime,
you should pay those consequences.
I know a lot of people don't change but I would never suggest that people can't change.
They often do I have many people I know have,
and especially when you're met with the toughest adversity,
I think that's a great mirror for change.
I would say that it's easier to condemn people than ideas,
because if we were to condemn ideas we would see how,
those ideas have affected us at one point.
We would see how those ideas are embedded in structures that we still defend.
No one has a monopoly on toxic ideas,
they kind of exist in all cultures.
Changing your mind does confirm that you are still thinking.
If you can look back on yourself 2 years ago, 3 years ago, 5 years ago or maybe even a year,
and slightly cringe without hating yourself,
I think you're moving in the right direction.
Part of the beauty of living is that we get to change our minds update our beliefs,
we challenge ourselves confront ourselves,
and hopefully that brings a further understanding of who we are,
and who we are in relation to other people and how we are similar.
So I think we should all be a little more humble,
we should always remember that just because something is popular it doesn't make it good.
There's a lot of things that are popular there are not good,
there are a lot of things in history that have been popular that are not good.
Sometimes popularity is just a measure of how much people aren't thinking.
If you're advocacy or activism is motivated by the fear of being cancelled,
then you will adopt the popular belief.
Mob culture is very terrifying but I think if you are committed to,
trying to make the world a better place or your community a better place,
your society, your culture you have to be prepared to think for yourself.
Even if we look into the lives of some of the most prolific activists and thinkers,
we're going to find chaos and that's not necessarily because they're hypocrites,
I don't think so at all I think it's because they're human.
So mistakes are how we find ourselves it's how we learn,
and I think there's something on the internet that encourages us,
to see the world as a fight between good and evil.
And it's not that we're a combination of it all,
we should be a bit more forgiving on people mistakes,
we have to make mistakes life is trial and error,
awareness is understanding how much you don't know.
And a lot of my beliefs and ideas are constantly being shattered and I really welcome it.
You know I don't know about an objective truth,
but at least if you're someone who's seeking a deeper understanding,
you welcome being wrong it's a pleasure to be wrong,
because when you are wrong you are closer to being right.
Maybe the first sign of knowing anything is knowing you know nothing at all.
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