I've decided to write a blog expressing my emotions towards free speech. It really seems to be a controversial topic lately, and that bugs me. Everyone deserves to express themselves, just like "love" languages people have "expression" languages too. For some people, they use their physical appearance to express themselves, others find comfort in expressing themselves through art but I, like many others, express myself through speech. Free speech can take many forms, like memes, articles, protests, debates, social media, and more. But let's get to the point

Why is it so important?

It's important because without it we entrust someone to judge what can and can not be said. That's a lot of power and by nature humans are biased. In the most critical of scenarios, this can prevent us from debating which frequently requires bringing up perspectives, ideas, or facts that one or more parties do not agree with. Debating is essential for resolving conflicts, appealing decisions, or simply questioning someone else's logic (perhaps think about the things you might say when you see something that you truly disagree with). To really understand this, you have to be atleast moderately literate in human psychology and understand confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a phenomenon that occurs when a person favors information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs or ideas, often interpreting unrelated events or ambiguous evidence as support for these beliefs. This subconscious bias leads people to seek, recall, and interpret information in ways that align with their expectations, while discounting or ignoring evidence that contradicts their views. While we're all guilty of it, being able to have a debate allows us to equally share our perspectives which greatly increases the probability for conflict resolution.

The broader implications

Imagine a world (or your country) that's ruled by a party you don't like. This is especially important for countries that utilize a bipartisan government (looking at you, America). Now without the freedom of speech, this party is capable of controlling what you can and can't say. All of the sudden they're capable of limiting or altering news articles, capable of punishing you for protesting, and in some instances even capable of punishing you for expressing disagreement with their ideologies on the internet. The freedom of speech allows you to actively express to your government that you disagree with their decisions. And it should be utilized to do so because the government doesn't always have your best interest in mind! I think we can all agree there being indie web developers, right?

Now, the cons

With everything, there are pros and cons. Free speech is no different. A few big problems I read about free speech are issues like misinformation and offensive content. But we must not forget that we have the same rights as those that participate in those activities. We are able to provide real information and provide sources to completely counter the misinformation. Giving everyone a voice will have some cons that we can't avoid, like encountering offensive content. Unfortunately, there are some bad people out there and their voices are loud. But taking away their rights means taking away ours too. It can be countered by blocking and client-side content filtering, but such filtering shouldn't be forced onto every person. It should be something you have to opt-in to.

Anyone that knows me in person knows I love my car. It's not the fastest model, but it's still a work of art. Considering my upbringing, I did not think I'd ever have the opportunity to own a vehicle of this caliber. Maybe I'll dig into that later but for now, I want to talk about my 2018 Dodge Challenger GT. The 2018 Dodge Challenger GT is part of what is known as the 3rd generation of the Challenger body. The third generation challengers were made from 2008-2023 and had a huge overhaul in 2015+ models with noticable changes to the front bumper, headlights, taillights, and a huge interior overhaul.The Dodge Challenger GT was the first Challenger to offer AWD back in 2017, then in 2019 the SXT models has AWD options available. Currently only SXT and GT models are upgradeable to AWD, which makes owning a GT a little special. While the GT is limited to it's 3.6L V6 engine, when paired with it's AWD capabilities it's 0-60MPH can be as low as 5.6s with no wheelspin. In city, the drive is very comparable to that of a 5.7L RT and the real power difference is at highway speeds. This still makes for a beautiful and fun car to drive, and fares well for the all season commuter. My car is fully loaded, with every option available. I have heated & cooled seats, heated steering wheel, sun & moon roof, blind spot monitors, mirror defrosters, adaptive cruise controls, navigation, an extra large 8.4" display, paddle shifters, launch control, and the super trak pak performance package. The top speed is electronically limited to 132MPH but I've gotten plenty of tickets for doing dumb things, I rarely ever go that fast anymore.

I often go on long cruises and just explore with my car, especially during the summer. I love getting lost and seeing beautiful new places, and using GPS to get back home at the end of the day. Somtimes when I'm out I'll take pictures, though I feel really dumb or embarassed that I look stupid taking pictures of my car in public so most of my photography is in remote areas. I actually have this little car scent dangler that looks like Bob Ross. I have it hung up in my rear view mirror, a friend gave it to me years ago and it's lost all it's scent but I love the idea that Bob Ross is sitting there painting me a beautiful landscape as I drive. Metaphorically, of course. I don't really have any mods or customizations to it otherwise, except I modified my stock badges to have red accents. I really think it looks and performs great as it currently is and doesn't need anything else.

Here's one of my favorite pictures I ever took of my car.

Welcome to my first blog. My name is Andrew, but I also go by Xobyte. "Xobyte" started originally as just an Xbox gamertag but it sounded so cool that I used it on most platforms. A couple things about me... It is currently calculated that I am years old. I'm from Wisconsin, USA. I enjoy driving, making websites, a small selection of video games, beer, memes, free speech, nature, and more. I like to consider myself knowledgeable in a variety of subjects which you'll find me blogging about later on. You'll see topics such as Economics, Emerging Technologies, Web Technologies, JavaScript, Firebase, Dodge/car stuff, and some life experiences. So, yeah. Cheers.