The problem is not to ensure confidentiality of what one writes. It is to ensure that one can write publicly (within some limits, see below) without fear. To go back to the original conversation, I think we have here an example of a “pendulum effect”. The onslaught on what cannot be said started on the “progressist”, “woke”, “politically correct” side, as explained in the article forwarded yesterday on this thread by Bryan Lepore. These people were well-meant, on a high moral ground and earnestly dedicated to rectifying earlier iniquities. Nevertheless, as often happens with well-meant actions, these initiatives quickly degenerated, in this case into rather indiscriminate censorship, nonsensical grammar (ungrammatical pronouns and the like) and sometimes worse. Then, the pendulum swung, and the “progressist” bigots were replaced by the real ones, who are not on a moral high ground, but are feeding on the mistrust and outrage generated by the previous status quo. The real bigots are of course many times worse than the ones that became so by excessive enthusiasm, and this is what we are seeing now (mostly in the US for the moment, but it’s spreading). So, I think the questions to ask are: is any form of censorship acceptable and, if yes, to what extent? My answer to the first question is yes: any bigot Right and Left should not be allowed to go around spreading lies and victimising people. The US has been in many cases an example of too little censorship: it is one of the most tolerant places in the West for those who are openly Neonazi for example. The answer to the second question must be: censorship should be tolerated to the least possible extent, it must be well-vetted, well-justified and liable to questioning, challenge and rational revision at all times. Ideally, it should also have some rapport with a somewhat objective notion of truth. Given the strained relationship of the present US Government with all the above concepts, I have little hope. Emmanuel Dr. Emmanuel Saridakis Institute of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology National Centre for Scientific Research "DEMOKRITOS" Athens 15341, Greece.
-----Original Message----- From: David <dgwater...@gmail.com> To: CCP4BB <CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> Date: Thursday, 13 March 2025 12:10 PM EET Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid I guess I should remind subscribers that the CCP4BB has a public archive, at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=ccp4bb. On a personal note, I always appreciate the courage of those who call out the bullshit in the world, and I've enjoyed the eloquent messages in this thread (though the content is depressing). Best wishes, David On Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 21:04 Katherine Sippel, <katherine.sip...@gmail.com> wrote: My response was more of a suggestion to make sure these types of conversations are held via a personal email where "The Man" would require sufficient probable cause for a judge to issue a warrant rather than an institutional email that does not have such a barrier. That being said, I have had more than one work email recently where I asked myself "would you want to have to defend this in front of a McCarthy-esque congressional inquest" and made a phone call instead. So, you're completely right. Thank you for the gut check. Cheers, Kat On Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM Artem Evdokimov <artem.evdoki...@gmail.com> wrote: The first thing that happens as freedom of speech dies is that diligent self censorship becomes the norm. People acquire a Komissar inside their heads. When I was a kid, my parents had to remind me daily not to share with school kids the jokes told at home because 'mommy does not want to go to Gulag'. Word to the wise. Artem On Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 15:21 Katherine Sippel <katherine.sip...@gmail.com> wrote: I love this conversation. It is an important one right now that addresses the intersection between the precise language needed to communicate science and the greater zeitgeist around politicization of vocabulary. It will be interesting to see how the etymology of scientific language migrates in response to this selective pressure. However, if you will allow me to put on my tinfoil hat for a moment, I feel compelled to remind the faculty from publicly funded universities in the US that your institutional emails may be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. I was at the University of Florida when the Organic Consumers Association decided to go after Kevin Folta via US Right to Know, and it was nasty. I would not put it past the administration to weaponize FOIA requests in the future to root out dissent among US academics. Just something to consider when engaging in these types of conversations. Cheers, Kat Sippel, PhD, ELS On Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 1:41 PM Harry Powell <0000193323b1e616-dmarc-requ...@jiscmail.ac.uk> wrote: "_golf_ of America” particularly apt with current POTUS… Harry > On 12 Mar 2025, at 17:49, Oganesyan, Vaheh <vaheh.oganes...@astrazeneca.com> > wrote: > > You never know what is on their minds (Musk&Don). Would you guess anything > related to Greenland before hearing it, or golf of America? > > Vaheh > > From: CCP4 bulletin board <CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> On Behalf Of Harry Powell > Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 1:30 PM > To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid > > I don’t thnk that’s why it’s been banned... > > > On 12 Mar 2025, at 17:09, Ian Tickle <ianj...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > --------- Forwarded message --------- > > From: Ian Tickle <ianj...@gmail.com> > > Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 14:08 > > Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid > > To: Herbert J. Bernstein <yaya...@gmail.com> > > > > I spell it 'polarisation' anyway (from Late Latin 'Stella Polaris' = 'Pole > > Star'). > > > > Cheers > > > > -- Ian > > > > > > On Tue, 11 Mar 2025, 20:00 Herbert J. Bernstein, <yaya...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Dear Colleagues, > > When I got home today, Frances presented me with an article from the > > NY Times which contained the attached list of words and the explanation, > > "As President Trump seeks to purge the federal government of "woke" > > initiatives, agencies have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, > > according to a compilation of government documents." > > For this audience in particular, please note that "Mx", "polarization", > > "orientation", "status", "systemic". "discrimination", "equality", > > "expression", "barriers", and "bias" are among the words to avoid. Care > > should be > > taken in writing proposals and reports since AIs may be used for screening > > and they are' likely to miss explanatory context. > > Regard, > > Herbert > > > > > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > > > > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > > > ######################################################################## > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing > list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ > > Confidentiality Notice: This message is private and may contain confidential > and proprietary information. If you have received this message in error, > please notify us and remove it from your system and note that you must not > copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. Any unauthorized use > or disclosure of the contents of this message is not permitted and may be > unlawful. > > > > > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
