Free Speech
Nowadays, questioning the slogan of free speech is directly suspected to imply a bent for tyranny. It is easy to jump to an opposite extreme without waiting to think that there could be other palpable problems with this phenomenon than a totalitarian agenda in the mind of the questioner. If the only other option were despotism, of course, it should not be acceptable, but if the other option were thoughtful speech in the light of a profound experience of life, it would definitely be more edifying than mere free speech. This problem does not arise in spheres requiring scientific and technical knowledge, for instance, medicine or mechanics, but as we enter the realm of humanity, there is a din of empty voices speaking what they would not have thought if they had thought it out, and even forgetting it soon after because they did not really think that way, let alone speak that way. Politics and bureaucracy yield suitable examples, but even in daily life, it is astounding to realize how sure and forthcoming we are of our ingrained worldviews. The one who thinks is often hesitant, tactless, ‘improper’, and hence more liable to be considered both rude and unsure.
