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Investigation
How much freedom would people surrender if frightened enough?
Governments rarely announce that freedom has ended. Citizens hand over a little authority during an emergency because the danger is real — and then the emergency passes and the powers do not.
Civics · History
Start here
The rule you never noticed
- Why does a driver stop at an empty intersection at two in the morning, with nobody watching?
- Why can you not simply walk onto a highway on foot?
- Why does nobody carry goods out of a store without paying, even when no one is at the door?
- Somebody wrote each of those rules. Who, when, and what happens when enough people stop agreeing?
Also read
From Civics Under Pressure
Questions to think about
Keep arguing
- — Which everyday rule around you would be hardest to remove, and who benefits from keeping it?
- — Name a power you would grant during a genuine emergency. Now write the sentence that takes it back.
- — Who audits a decision that is classified?
Continue
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Biology · History · Ethics · Literature
Who has the right to rewrite a human being?
Physics · Measurement · Philosophy of science
How can the Servator hang there without pushing anything?
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What if an octopus is intelligent in a way we cannot measure?
Astronomy · Statistics · Astrobiology
If intelligent life is rare, how could anyone ever find us?
