I\u2019m wondering whether it will be helpful or counterproductive to have students in my course on China this semester think about what Confucius advocated \u2013 accuracy of description, ritual and decorum, reciprocity, and so on \u2013 and relate that to the internet age.<\/p>\n
Some discussion forums insist on ritual and impose linguistic restrictions. We\u2019ve had the odd experience here at Patheos of having Disqus impose restrictions on keywords like Islam (this is a religion site for crying out loud) and oral (those who study ancient religion, including but not limited to early Christianity, are bound to mention oral tradition). But however frustrating the delay in comments appearing may be, there is a potential positive impact to requiring particular ways of thinking and behaving. We cannot require commenters to feel genuine respect towards those with different views from themselves. All we can do is insist on particular behaviors.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that rather like what Confucius did, responding to the breakdown of cohesiveness in the Warring States period in China\u2019s history? Might it be helpful to have students think about the relationship between Confucius\u2019 teaching about decorum and etiquette and aspects of internet interaction<\/a>?<\/p>\n I should also use this as an opportunity to talk about the decorum of how students address professors, not only general email etiquette, but the particular inappropriateness of addressing female professors in a less respectful manner than their male counterparts. Then again, perhaps I should just address that on the syllabus, as another academic recently shared on Facebook that they did, apparently with some positive results. Not that I cannot do both\u2026it is not as though most students will have read that part of the syllabus by the time we get to it in class!<\/p>\n On civility and freedom of speech (both issues that it will be interesting to discuss comparatively across different cultural and national contexts in my class) see Sheila Kennedy\u2019s recent blog post on the topic<\/a>, in which she wrote:<\/p>\n This nation\u2019s Founders understood that\u00a0all ideas, no matter how noxious, should be available for discussion.They didn\u2019t protect speech because they underestimated the danger bad ideas could pose; they knew how powerful \u2013and dangerous\u2013words and ideas could be. They protected free expression because they understood that giving government the authority to decide which ideas are acceptable\u2014to decide what sort of speech should be permitted\u2013 was far\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0dangerous.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s where civility comes in. If free speech is to achieve its purpose\u2014if it is meant to facilitate a process in which citizens consider and vet all ideas, consider all perspectives\u2014we need to\u00a0listen<\/em> to each other.\u00a0Insults, labeling, dismissing, racial \u201cdog whistles\u201d\u2014all those hallmarks of incivility\u2014make it impossible to have the kinds of genuine conversations and productive disagreements that the First Amendment is intended to foster.<\/p>\n Screaming invective across political or religious divides actually undermines the purpose of the First Amendment\u2019s Free Speech provisions. Is such speech protected? Absolutely. Is it useful? Absolutely not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One could say much the same thing about the classroom. One may desire to give students maximal freedom to express any and all viewpoints. But without any counterbalance, that might simply silence some and perhaps most students, as some are allowed to dominate in unhelpful ways. Ultimately I do think that we sometimes must choose between our ideals, in particular freedom of speech and fostering meaningful, beneficial, and inclusive dialogue, as I\u2019ve said before<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also planning on giving the course a strong digital and information literacy focus. Censorship in China provides a good opportunity to talk about search engines and results in terms of content, technology, algorithms, bias, and more.<\/p>\n