4 ms·

Plus, Americans don't learn Chinese history outside of fireworks and dragons and ancestor worship and the silk road. Being upset about using this phrase is lik

by seiji 11y ago

Plus, Americans don't learn Chinese history outside of fireworks and dragons and ancestor worship and the silk road. Being upset about using this phrase is like an army of tumblr SJWs being annoyed when someone says gypped. Not everybody knows the complete cultural and racial history of every innocent common phrase used today, even if they come from questionable historical pasts.

mikeash 11y ago
They said "I wish people would learn...." To say that people don't learn about it is not a sensible counter to that!
- icebraining 11y ago
  I don't think seiji is trying to counter your post; "Plus" is used to add to something you agree with.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    They're certainly not countering my post, since there isn't any of mine to reply to. Here's what I see: jordigh says he wishes people would learn about the hundred flowers campaign so they won't make such bad allusions by accident. coldtea counters this saying that it's not actually bad. seiji agrees with coldtea and attempts to offer further support by saying that people don't learn about this stuff anyway. Not so?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
festivusr 11y ago
Now's your opportunity to learn, then. China isn't exactly some tiny country at the end of the world.
eropple 11y ago
Then learn when new knowledge is offered to you, and apologize if you offend (not "I'm sorry that you're offended", all too often the clarion call of people who think "SJW" is a pejorative), and be better as a person afterwards. Ain't that hard.
- icebraining 11y ago
  It's funny, but I feel a strong aversion at apologizing for offending someone when I didn't mean to. (I'm not being sarcastic). Having thought about it, it doesn't really make sense, since I'd apologize for hitting someone even if I didn't mean to, and even if I couldn't be reasonably expected to hit them.
  - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
    I think it's like this. You stumble, smack into someone, and you apologize. Your apology is for hitting them, not for meaning to hit them. In fact, you did not mean to hit them, you just stumbled. But when the issue is offense, you don't want to apologize, because you think that they think that you meant to cause offense, and apologizing will reinforce in their mind the idea that you really did mean to do it, or at least in your mind it will reinforce that idea in their mind. And you don't want to reinforce that idea in their mind, partly because it makes you look bad, and partly because the idea is simply wrong. So you don't want to apologize. (Note well: "you" here means "me, too, given the right circumstances".) Worse: That may really be going on in the other person's mind. They may really think (or at least suspect) that you meant to cause offense, and therefore are determined that you must apologize as penance or proof of repentance or some such. "The good of society demands that I force this person to apologize!" So maybe the best answer is to say something like: "I did not intend or wish to give offense. Apparently I did; I apologize for doing so." Because the fact is, the offense was real. Apologizing for it is just good manners. But apologize without agreeing that you had intent. This presumes that you didn't have intent. If you intended to offend, that's a whole different situation. It's worthy of an apology, not just for the offense, but for the intent.
  - eropple 11y ago

by seiji 11y ago

mikeash 11y ago

They said "I wish people would learn...." To say that people don't learn about it is not a sensible counter to that!

icebraining 11y ago
I don't think seiji is trying to counter your post; "Plus" is used to add to something you agree with.
- mikeash 11y ago
  They're certainly not countering my post, since there isn't any of mine to reply to. Here's what I see: jordigh says he wishes people would learn about the hundred flowers campaign so they won't make such bad allusions by accident. coldtea counters this saying that it's not actually bad. seiji agrees with coldtea and attempts to offer further support by saying that people don't learn about this stuff anyway. Not so?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

festivusr 11y ago

Now's your opportunity to learn, then. China isn't exactly some tiny country at the end of the world.

eropple 11y ago

Then learn when new knowledge is offered to you, and apologize if you offend (not "I'm sorry that you're offended", all too often the clarion call of people who think "SJW" is a pejorative), and be better as a person afterwards. Ain't that hard.

icebraining 11y ago
It's funny, but I feel a strong aversion at apologizing for offending someone when I didn't mean to. (I'm not being sarcastic). Having thought about it, it doesn't really make sense, since I'd apologize for hitting someone even if I didn't mean to, and even if I couldn't be reasonably expected to hit them.
- AnimalMuppet 11y ago
  I think it's like this. You stumble, smack into someone, and you apologize. Your apology is for hitting them, not for meaning to hit them. In fact, you did not mean to hit them, you just stumbled. But when the issue is offense, you don't want to apologize, because you think that they think that you meant to cause offense, and apologizing will reinforce in their mind the idea that you really did mean to do it, or at least in your mind it will reinforce that idea in their mind. And you don't want to reinforce that idea in their mind, partly because it makes you look bad, and partly because the idea is simply wrong. So you don't want to apologize. (Note well: "you" here means "me, too, given the right circumstances".) Worse: That may really be going on in the other person's mind. They may really think (or at least suspect) that you meant to cause offense, and therefore are determined that you must apologize as penance or proof of repentance or some such. "The good of society demands that I force this person to apologize!" So maybe the best answer is to say something like: "I did not intend or wish to give offense. Apparently I did; I apologize for doing so." Because the fact is, the offense was real. Apologizing for it is just good manners. But apologize without agreeing that you had intent. This presumes that you didn't have intent. If you intended to offend, that's a whole different situation. It's worthy of an apology, not just for the offense, but for the intent.
- eropple 11y ago