JK Rowling and the Death of Competence
How the Dunning Kruger Effect applies to TERF ideology
The internet is, objectively, one of the greatest resources of the modern digital age. Conversely, our culture’s practically unlimited access to knowledge has some counter-intuitive drawbacks. Information runs wild in digital spaces like Twitter, Reddit, and other such online forums, with seemingly factual claims made often without any accountability. American news tends to make their own rules, with Fox’s lawyers winning a defamation suit in 2020 on behalf of Tucker Carlson that effectively ruled that, due to his apparent lack of credibility, anything he said should not be considered fact-based. This is despite the fact that the man is literally broadcast on one of the most popular news channels in America and frequently spouts off hateful rhetoric as if it’s a widely known truth. It doesn’t matter that your average Fox News viewer believes him intrinsically: U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil effectively ruled that if you’re dumb enough to believe Carlson’s lies, that’s on you.
The problem is that Tucker Carlson, nor his viewers, live in a vacuum. There are real-life consequences to attacking marginalized communities without any repercussions. Freedom of speech is one thing, but stating that trans-related healthcare allows people to “basically molest and…
