The lost art of knowing right from wrong

We all know the difference...

Please read the entire story of Norman’s cancellation for a recent NHS Health and Care Analytics Conference 2023. Here is the update on his story.

An update on my NHS conference cancellation

I have read Norman’s entire story on this particular subject matter and I want to report two things:

1. This story is better than any fiction novel I have ever read.

It’s got a hero. Villains. Intrigue. A plot twist. And dare I say, eventually, JUSTICE.

2. Without knowing (the direct product of being capable of discerning between right and wrong) that he was cancelled for non-reasons, this story would never have seen the light of day.

Here are some examples of things that are wrong (this is NOT subjective - and yes I will argue with anyone on these points and they will lose) to appease confusion:

Censorship is wrong.

Sexualizing children is wrong.

Intentionally hurting other beings is wrong.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/HK_Central_Statue_Square_Legislative_Council_Building_n_Themis_s.jpg

Norman is a good friend of mine and I don’t say this for clout; I say it in truth. We speak every day in a data analysis group we’re in together with a crew of dynamite people, and if any one of us has an issue, or a new paper, or a story to share, we do. It’s like data analysis, constructive criticism and therapy rolled into one! This includes all of our stories on being censored and cancelled. ALL OF US HAVE BEEN. And what’s probably more important is that we all know, and maintain our knowledge despite the ‘challenges’ of the past 3 years, that being censored or cancelled for simply doing the same thing we’ve always done, is wrong. Furthermore, doing nothing about it, is the wrong course of action to take.

Being censored or cancelled due to tattle tales incentivized by greed and stupidity who wouldn’t know a Bayesian analysis if it hit them in the face with a what would make a billy goat puke, is wrong. Recognizing a tattle tale in the first place requires the ability to know right from wrong, and this is probably my main point.

It struck me how it would have been so easy for Norman to go cry in a corner and ‘woe is me’ himself out of fighting back. We all do this sometimes because it hurts to be censored - it really does! We sometimes retreat simply out of disbelief that it happened.

It can’t be possible that my paper got force withdrawn because the publisher - the biggest publisher in the world - was bitch-slapped and told to do it ‘or else’. It can’t be so. But here’s the thing: it is.

It takes a certain… something (state of mind? past memory recall?), and in fact, stubbornness, to persist in your strong belief that everyone else is wrong and that, you, are right.

It struck me how if Norman didn’t know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was categorically wrong for him to be cancelled in this way - for reasons that were likely beyond ridiculous - he would not have sought out the reasons behind why he was cancelled, and the unethical, vapid people involved. Consequently, this story would have been left out of the public sphere: no one would have known that, or why, Norman’s talk was cancelled, or even that he had a talk in the first place!

Imagine how many stories are left untold.

This is likely the reason, or at least a big reason, why we got into this mess we’re currently in. The mess we’re currently in could not have happened without the censorship/cancellation component. It is simply incredible to me that propaganda works so effectively. It is even more incredible to me that after all we humans have done to each other, that we do not have readily accessible internal radar for the signs and symptoms of tyranny. For me, if censorship is on the table, dictatorship is the goal.

How is it possible that we have seemingly lost our way and turned our blind eyes to what we know is right? Or at least, to what is wrong?

I am an eternal optimist and I believe that as a community of humans we do have the ability to heal ourselves, even from the extreme forgetfulness of what is right, and what is wrong. Perhaps when we do, we will uncover some of the massive lies and deception that have literally destroyed lives without impunity for decades. In fact, I think we are doing that right now.

Thank you Norman for being a balanced, normal, kind, thoughtful human being. Thank you for following logic, fact and your sense of right. You inspire a legion of people to shake off the veil of confusion and to see clearly the difference between right and wrong.