All of us, censor ourselves to some degree because if we did not, we would be speaking in a constant stream of consciousness without any forethought of whether or not what we were saying served any good purpose, or any purpose, at all. We censor ourselves because not every thought that comes to mind is worthy of speaking about, and further to the point, not every thought is worth expressing. So too, none of us really desire to hear someone else speak a bunch of nonsense, for the very principle of communication is to convey thoughts, ideas, and information that are seemingly worth conveying, and that which isn’t, should not be conveyed.
It has to be admitted that if we did not self-censor, the amount of trouble that we would get into would increase substantially, in addition to the fact, that we would probably unnecessarily hurt the feelings of others, for no good reason – and by doing so, our own feelings would probably be hurt in turn, when we suffered the blowback for having said stupid things. A good mind recognizes that there are appropriate things to say, and inappropriate things to keep to ourselves, and those that fail to recognize this are the very same that will find it difficult to sustain and maintain not only good civil discourse but also will have trouble in the keeping of good friends, for life is tough enough, without having people that we think care about us, tell us stuff that hurts or annoys us.
Then again, there is the type of self-censorship that reflects that the world that we live in, does not embrace free speech as much as we believe that it should, in which, we are afraid to express our true feelings about something of import to us because we fear that the consequences of saying what we say, would be ultimately bad for us. That is unfortunate, for in order for change to occur, it is important that ideas of merit that are not in conformance with what is perceived to be orthodoxy, are expressed, so that not only those that secretly support us can agree with us, but also as a way to bring to attention things that should be discussed and debated upon.
Another very valid reason to self-censor is that when we are distraught, some of us have a strong tendency to hit back by saying words that we know would be hurtful to the other, and that consequently will not easily be forgotten or forgiven, of which, if we simply held our tongue, the crisis that we thought was so important to respond to, would have dissipated enough that we now would know the error of our ways. Those then who can control their emotions and control their words are always going to be in a better place than all those who don’t understand discretion.
In sum, we should appropriately self-censor because it’s not only better for us, but it is better for others, as well, because as they say, when you don’t have anything positive or of real merit to say, it is typically better to say nothing and make therefore our default to be a person who thinks first before actually speaking their mind.