Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Who wins from public debate? Liars, bullies and trolls

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This perspective is not wrong: " We are told debate is the great engine of liberal democracy. In a free society, ideas should do battle in the public forum.... In practice, modern debate has a structural bias in favour of demagoguery and disinformation. It inherently favours liars." So what do we do instead? The author suggests, ultimately, "the peerless technology of writing," but I don't think that's it either.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 29, 2025 10:13 a.m.

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