Liberalism (libertarianism) rises above and rejects the primitive moralities embodied in the universalist collectivism of progressives and the tribalist collectivism of conservatives. In doing so, it made the rule of law, freedom of speech, religious tolerance, and modern prosperity possible.

— Michael Shermer, Joe Carter, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Ronald Bailey, and Jason Kuznicki, Brain, Belief, and Politics

I cannot go along with Protestant efforts to alter the Bible’s language in ways intended to eliminate male chauvinism. I find it offensive to change the plain meaning of its sentences into meanings the authors clearly did not intend.

— Martin Gardner, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener

Anyone who grows up watching TV, never sees any religion or philosophy, is raised in an atmosphere of moral relativism, learns about civics from watching bimbo eruptions on network TV news, and attends a university where postmodernists vie to outdo each other in demolishing traditional notions of truth and quality, is going to come out into the world as one pretty feckless human being.

— Neal Stephenson, In the Beginning…Was the Command Line

These differences explain why it has been hard to design software engineering education that actually produces capable software developers. Many software engineering groups are in computer science departments that emphasize the science over engineering.

— Peter J. Denning and Matti Tedre, Computational Thinking

Politics is the mind-killer. Arguments are soldiers. Once you know which side you’re on, you must support all favorable claims, and argue against all unfavorable claims. Otherwise it’s like giving aid and comfort to the enemy, or stabbing your friends in the back.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, How to Actually Change Your Mind