Here I expose the principles I support and promote in my personal and professional life, and attempt to make clear why they should be inviolable pillars of any society.
Science and reason
Science is, by far and without doubt, the most effective and accurate system of methods through which to understand objective reality. It allows us to use reason systematically and objectively to observe, analyze and generate testable explanations and predictions about the universe. From a social perspective, science allows us to create social rules that are objective and neutral rather than subjective to the mind of one particular individual or subgroup in the population. Science also allows us to denounce social phenomena that fail to meet minimum stardards of evidence or are simply outright fraud, such as religion, astrology, homeopathy and eugenics (i.e., race superiority). However, science only thrives when freedom of expression and bodily autonomy are protected and respected, such that ideas can be freely exposed and, eventually, accepted or rejected.
Freedom of expression
Freedom of expression (FoE) is the fundamental principle that gives individuals the power to express their opinions and criticize ideas, individual actions and institutions, free of legal or governmental retaliation, censorship or punishment. This principle allows for the flow and diversity of ideas in science and society.
In science, FoE allows for the unrestricted generation and selection of ideas, resulting in our best understanding of reality. FoE in science is what allowed, for example, heliocentrism and the theory of evolution to thrive, despite strong rejection from religious institutions.
In society, FoE allows citizents to fight for human rights, propose modifications to the law and demand government accountability. FoE allows society to progress towards better living standards through the proposal of better policies and rejection of bad ones.
However, in the process, FoE also allows for offensive ideas to be expressed (however subjective the offense may be), but those ideas should be dealt with through equivalent forms of expression (e.g., counterprotests promoting the social rejection of such ideas), not with state-sponsored censorship.
State-sponsored censorship is a dangerously underestimated idea that can be easily used by the government and those in power to stop individuals from enjoying their individual rights, which can potentially lead and has, many times in history, led to functional totalitarianism.
Calls for the legal restriction of FoE are hypocritically intolerant contradictions, in which individuals use their FoE (hypocrisy) to demand restrictions (contradiction) to someone else's FoE (intolerance), instead of using their FoE to counterprotest against the disagreeable ideas.
Therefore, limitations to FoE should be minimal and restricted to very clear exceptions, such as direct threats of bodily injury or death, or the intentional fabrication or spread of false information that results in damage to the physical wellbeing or reputation of a person or institution. Additionally, intolerance towards someone's FoE has negative consequences to the population as a whole and should never be called for based on the subjective rejection of an idea.
Bodily autonomy
Bodily autonomy is the principle that gives individuals control over what happens to their own body, preventing any form of exploitation or unnecessary harm.
Children are particularly vulnerable to violations of their bodily autonomy. These violations range from minimally harmful aesthetic procedures (e.g., ear piercing) to forced irreversible medically-assisted body damage (e.g., male and female genital mutilation, involuntary sterilization), usually performed under false premises or based on distorted research results.
The deprivation of bodily autonomy is also considered a form of violation of the principle. For example, women have been, historically and up to this day, deprived from their reproductive rights (in the form of safe and legal abortion) under the fallacious (usually religious) argument that a fetus is a biologically independent human being whose bodily autonomy is more important than the autonomy of the woman who carries it. Other instances of violations of bodily autonomy include the criminalization of drug use, sex work, and voluntary medically-assisted euthanasia (even after proper psychological evaluation and counseling).
Violations of the bodily autonomy principle have also been observed in the scientific community. For example, in 1951, cancer cells from Henrietta Lacks were used, without her consent, to create what is currently called the HeLa cell line, resulting in an unacceptable breach of her genome-related privacy and patient's rights.
More serious violations of the bodily autonomy principle occurred during World War II, when nazi physicians conducted a series of torturous pseudoscientific medical experiments on prisoners (including children) in nazi concentration camps. The absurdity and brutality of such experiments led to the development of the Nuremberg code of medical ethics to prevent medical exploitation and injustice.
As with other fundamental principles, limitations to bodily autonomy should be minimal and restricted to very clear exceptions, such as when a person's actions are considered dangerous to themselves or others (in which case their bodily autonomy can be limited in order to protect public safety), or when a person is medically diagnosed as mentally unfit to make decisions about their own body (in which case a legal representative may be appointed to make decisions on their behalf). However, abusive limitations to bodily autonomy can lead to social problems that are comparable to slavery.
Equality
Equality is the fundamental principle that everyone should have equal rights and opportunities, regardless of their biological nature or philosophical convictions. Without equality, society drifts towards social segregation driven by unreasonable and biased ideas through the promotion of the unequal application of the principles of freedom of expression and bodily autonomy. This inequality in the application of such fundamental principles can lead to unacceptable social segregation, favoring historically dominant social groups.
Science and equality also have a mutualistic connection. Science has played a crucial role in advancing equality by identifying and exposing biases and discrimination in society, leading to the development of science-based policies and anti-discrimination laws designed to address the underlying causes of inequality. And equality is also essential for the advancement of science because it provides science with a greater diversity of perspectives, ideas, and experiences, which can lead to more creative, innovative, comprehensive and robust solutions to scientific problems. Furthermore, both equality and science are based on the principles of fairness, objectivity, and inclusivity, with science playing a crucial role in advancing equality, and equality playing an essential role in advancing science.
Miscellaneous views
These are ideas that I support as a result of the critical application of the fundamental principles defended above:
COMING SOON!