PDA

View Full Version : Are books inherently dangerous? Should they be regulated?



OGIS
11-05-2015, 09:34 AM
This article raises some disturbing questions about our precious snowflakes and how they view the world. I have personal experience with this: I used to sell used books on Amazon, and actually had to deal with periodic bans on certain titles. I remember, in particular, the kerfuffle over "The Anarchist Red Book" which was in reality a republishing with flashy cover of an old US Army field manual.

"Contagion, poison and trigger. The idea that books are dangerous has a long history, and holds a kernel of truth"

http://aeon.co/magazine/culture/reading-should-not-carry-a-health-warning/?utm_source=Aeon+newsletter&utm_campaign=399f22f459-Daily_Newsletter_Thursday_5th_November_11_5_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-399f22f459-68791813

Do we need to be protected from some books?

Why?

More to the point: HOW?

Matty
11-05-2015, 09:42 AM
No. Absolutely not. Of course we do still have that man in prison for making a video don't we?

OGIS
11-05-2015, 09:48 AM
No. Absolutely not. Of course we do still have that man in prison for making a video don't we?

Which one is that? There are so many....

Gypsy
11-05-2015, 09:54 AM
“Local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books …”
— U.S. Supreme Court in Board of Education, Island Trees School District v. Pico (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=457&invol=853) (1982)

I've had some experience with this. No, books should not be banned or censored by anyone.

southwest88
11-05-2015, 11:12 AM
Interesting article, thanks. Furedi seems to have written a survey of attitudes towards reading, especially after the printing press (& widespread literacy) made mass-market print affordable.

Books may be dangerous - in that they may contain ideas or techniques that are detrimental to the public. But we're in 2015CE & the US is a modern technocratic society. We run on technical innovation. As such, we can't afford to block ideas, wherever they may come from.

On grounds of appropriateness, we may restrict some access. I remember having to negotiate with public librarians over reading in the adult (by age) section while still having a youth library card. & public libraries often restrict movies & music by age - requiring an adult to check out adult movies or music.

That's more of a developmental issue than a moral issue, although it's often framed as a discussion of morals.

In the here & now in the US, it hardly seems worthwhile to regulate books, as they're fading into a technological obsolescence, along with print generally. It would be more to the point to regulate electronic data streams - the organs monitor that, but there's no attempt that I'm aware of to direct the content. I don't see how it would be possible to control the content of the data streams - I'm sure someone's dedicated some attention to the issue, but short of shutting down the nets altogether, it seems insoluble to me. But I'm sure someone's still throwing research monies & political attention at the topic.

Peter1469
11-05-2015, 11:51 AM
Banning them make them more popular. With Algore's Amazing Internets you can get anything you want anyway.