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If you are so weak that words hurt you, that the mere speaking of words makes you damaged, I am afraid that you need psychological help. I feel for men and wome
by seibelj 11y ago
If you are so weak that words hurt you, that the mere speaking of words makes you damaged, I am afraid that you need psychological help. I feel for men and women who face real dangers. I don't feel for Yale students who must listen to scary ideas.
- rabino 11y agoI totally empathize with people that are truly affected by words or ideas. What I can't tolerate is people trying to impose me what I should be offended by.
- striking 11y agoThis article says a little about that: http://hlrecord.org/2015/11/fascism-at-yale/ http://hlrecord.org/2015/11/fascism-at-yale/ I realize it's an inflammatory article (Harvard and Yale having their differences, what else is new) but it's definitely a unique take on this phenomenon from a historical perspective.
- jasonszhao 11y agoLike what? Can you give a concrete example?
- moonchrome 11y ago>What I can't tolerate is people trying to impose me what I should be offended by. Nobody really gives a shit until you start policing others so you can't get offended.
- hackuser 11y ago> so weak that words hurt you Abstractly, I see the idea that words are intangible and can't possibly hurt you. But we are social animals and it doesn't work that way in reality. Words can get you loved or hated, married or fired, can put you in jail or set you free, start wars and end them, destroy someone's ego and life or elevate it. Words are the most hurtful things there are. The pen is far mightier than the sword.
- SFLemonade 11y ago"Words are the most hurtful things there are." I understand what you're getting at, but that is hilariously untrue and a perfect representation of the delusion that the social justice movement operates under.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Retra 11y agoWords are immensely powerful, but they are not that hurtful unless you're a child who expects everyone to love them. The pen is mightier than the sword because a pen will move armies with swords. Not because someone might get their feelings hurt. Addendum: Speech is probably more thoroughly weaponized by calling for censorship that it is by calling someone by offensive phrases.
- quanticle 11y ago>The pen is mightier than the sword because a pen will move armies with swords. And that is exactly what the right words will do. If it's seen as socially acceptable to insult someone, then it's not far from that to having it be socially acceptable to commit physical violence against them. Historically, that's the way it's always worked. I've never once seen or read about an instance of a marginalized group where the insults stopped at racial or ethnic slurs.
- Retra 11y agoYou really have to measure these things against the numbers involved though. One person using racial slurs is just one person being a fool. One person with thousands of followers might be a problem.
- seibelj 11y agoThis is anecdotal (is it really that anecdotal?), but I have been called so many names throughout my life, and my response is almost always "go fuck yourself", whether said out loud (in so many words) or internally. I honestly don't care, and the bullies don't stop me. Adults don't need institutions to protect them from name calling and hurtful words. Children do.
- thejosh 11y agoThis is what people should have learned on the playground.
- colmvp 11y agoI can't recall the last compliment I received over the last month, but I can tell you with vivid detail the racist words that have been thrown at me over the last ten years for being non-white. One of my friends who is black can recall the exact time years ago when he was sitting on a bus and a complete stranger from across the street called him a nigger. But hey, words don't hurt right?
- seibelj 11y agoShould someone be arrested for saying a racist slur? I'm honestly curious about your opinion.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- vacri 11y agoWhoah, that's a bloody wide gap you have there, stretching from "doesn't hurt at all" to "should be imprisoned". The world is nowhere near that polarised.
- seibelj 11y agoI think it would give me a good perspective on the comment author's mindset, which is why I am curious. But do you, vacri, see a huge gap between completely destroying a professor's life, i.e. forcing them to resign their position, give up their salary, tenure, and reputation (which is what these students were asking), and going to prison? Going to prison implies all of the former, it's just an extra debasement on the other penalties, although an extreme one.
- vacri 11y agoYou're mixing up your arguments. colmvp said that words can hurt - and in response, you're retorting that students are asking for imprisonment of a professor? What? How is that a rebuttal? Regardless of whether the students are successful or are laughed out of college, it has no bearing on colmvp's comment that words can hurt. Basically you're trying to force a false dichotomy, where the options are "nothing at all" and "complete destruction of life". Someone's opinion on such a ridiculously polarised fantasy isn't going to grant any useful insights.
- tedks 11y agoThis is absolute bullshit. If you yourself think that ~the mere speaking of words~ is so powerless, post your phone number on 4chan and see how long you can stand it. You're a white man, so I can see how you fail to empathize with marginalized groups, but that isn't an excuse.
- seibelj 11y agoAn email about costumes and culture vs. hundreds of 4channers threatening physical violence and assault are entirely different things. An idea, which is free speech, and harassment, which is what you are suggesting, are entirely different things.
- onion2k 11y agoAn email about costumes and culture vs. hundreds of 4channers threatening physical violence and assault are entirely different things. So some words actually could have an impact then, despite being "just words"?
- seibelj 11y agoShouting fire in a crowded theater is not covered by free speech. An email explaining an idea about halloween costumes and culture is.
- onion2k 11y agoI can certainly agree with that, but the nuance that some words might have an impact while others won't (or shouldn't) was lost in your original statement that "If you are so weak that words hurt you, that the mere speaking of words makes you damaged, I am afraid that you need psychological help." It depends on the words. Absolute statements are never right. ;)
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- dang 11y ago
- rajacombinator 11y agoWords convey meaning. It is meaning that hurts, not words themselves. (Or rather, it should be.) However, in this case, it is obviously some moronic brainwashed stormtrooper-students.