Criticism vs. Call Outs: Is There a Difference?

It seems fairly easy to distinguish between criticizing an idea and criticizing a person who holds the idea (unless we're talking about Islam, of course, in which case any criticism would be "gross" and "racist"). But what about the distinction between criticism and the sort of "call outs" we see happening almost constantly on social media these days? Is there a meaningful difference between criticism and "call outs," or are "call outs" just what criticism via social media looks like?

I have expressed support for criticism, especially when it is constructive and aimed at ideas rather than people. On the other hand, I have tried to make it clear that I am not a fan of call outs, especially when they are destructive and aimed at people rather than ideas (e.g., attempting to get someone fired from his or her job for saying something one did not like, public shaming). Thus, I think there must be some important differences. Admittedly, this is a subject I am just starting to consider so this is still tentative.

Left is Failing on Muslim Immigration

The Muslim population of the world map by percentage of each country, according to the Pew Forum 2009 report on world Muslim populations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It occurs to me that if I lived in Western Europe or the U.K., I'd likely have a very different perspective on Muslim immigration than I do now. The mainstream news media in the U.S. has devoted relatively little coverage to the massive number of migrants entering many of these countries. We have heard a bit more about the Syrian refugees; however, the much larger numbers of economic migrants from predominately Muslim countries has received minimal attention. As a result, I feel ill-informed about what is happening and how much of a concern it is for those who live in the countries taking in large numbers of immigrants.

From the handful of YouTube videos I have watched, primarily from people based in the U.K. (here's one example), I have the impression that the problem - or at least the potential for waves of migrants from predominately Muslim countries to become a problem - is much greater than what I am hearing from the corporate news media in the U.S. It is also clear from a recent poll of Muslims living in Britain, which actually has received some attention from our corporate news media, that many Muslims who already live there have values which are at odds with much of the rest of society. It seems reasonable to expect that bringing in large numbers of Muslims might have a real impact on Britain and other countries.

Twitter Tips: The Art of Tweeting

You created your Twitter account and have been finding interesting people to follow. You have been reading others' tweets and getting a sense for what you like and do not like about how others use Twitter. Now it is time to figure out how you will use Twitter.

The first thing to note is that not everyone uses Twitter to interact with others; some people use it almost solely as a system for distributing content. They send their content out on it where it can be seen but have little interest in interacting with others. There isn't anything wrong with this, and it is simple enough to accomplish if that is all you want out of Twitter.

If this is how you plan to use Twitter, it is likely to be worth your while to explore a service that makes it easy to schedule your tweets in advance for distribution. I previously recommended Buffer for this purpose and mentioned how using Followerwonk can make it even more effective. With such a combination, you can make sure that your tweets go out at the times your followers are most likely to see them.

For this post, however, I'll assume that you are more interested in having an interactive experience on Twitter. That means you'll be using Twitter not just to distribute content you've already written but to share things others have written and to share some of your own thoughts with others in the moment.

Sam Harris on Why Even Moderate Religious Belief Must Go

I think that many well-intentioned, reasonable people probably believe in some version of the following statement:

Religious extremists are a problem, but religious belief itself is often a positive force that is simply misused by extremists.

Until roughly 2005 or so, I was someone who held this belief. While I was no fan of religion, I probably would have agreed with the notion that moderate forms of faith were not particularly harmful and that it was really just extremism about which we should be concerned.

In 2005, I realized that I could no longer regard religious belief as a positive force for humanity. I came to recognize that faith is detrimental to our progress as a species. Moderate faith may be somewhat less detrimental than the faith of extremists, but this is a matter of degree rather than a matter of kind.

What changed? One of the things that helped change my mind was Sam Harris' book, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. It was the first book on atheism I had read in many years, and it sparked a renewed interest in the subject. It also helped to open my eyes to the dangers of faith.