“What You Can’t Say” is chapter 3 of Hackers & Painters. It’s my favouritest chapter in the whole book.

(I’ve reviewed other parts of this book earlier here: Hackers & Painters, Why Nerds Are Unpopular.)

Nerds are always getting into trouble. They say improper things for the same reason they dress unfashionably and have good ideas. Convention has less hold over them.

I don’t see myself as a pure nerd now (and I’m not toooo unfashionable, at least that’s what I’d like to think), but yes, I do get into a lot of trouble for saying “improper” things.

It seems to be a constant throughout history: in every period, people believed things that were just ridiculous, and believed them so strongly that you would have gotten in terrible trouble for saying otherwise.

Is our time any different? To anyone who has read any amount of history, the answer is almost certainly no. […]

It’s tantalizing to think we believe things that people in the future will find ridiculous. What would someone coming to visit us in a time machine have to be careful not to say?

I’ve been thinking along the same lines for quite a long time (years), so this is one of the reasons I love this chapter.

Paul Graham goes on to explore the nature of the things we can’t say.

What can’t we say? One way to find these ideas is simply to look at things people do say, and get in trouble for.

And the lovely thing about the blogosphere is that you see so much of the following:

The statements that make people mad are the ones they worry might be believed. I suspect the statements that make people maddest are those they worry might be true.

So why do you think some people hate Xiaxue so much?

Ok, it may be heretical (or whatever the modern equivalent), but might it also be true?

Just think about some of the “improper” things she said. Sure, I don’t agree with all that she says, but my collar remains cool, because it doesn’t bother me if it turns out that she’s right. But those who get maddest - aren’t they the ones who are most worried that what she says might turn out to be true? Ok, some of them are so sure about their beliefs that they would never admit the possibility that she might be right, so what bugs them is that others reading her might just believe her.

So no, it’s not simply a matter of “if you don’t like what she says, don’t read her”. I’m tired of hearing people say that (although this is the first time I’m saying this in public).

There’s lots more to this chapter. Another time.