8 ms·

Empathy is a big way to raise awareness. When I had kids and started walking them around in a stroller, you learn really quickly where the sidewalks with ramps

• vog 9y ago
  This is so true. That's why here in Germany we have a separate term for that: "barrierefrei", which means "free of barriers". It is the politically correct variant of the other popular word "behindertengerecht" which merely means "suitable for disabled people". Many people here think that "barrierefrei" is just about political correctness for its own sake. But the term "barrierefrei" emphases a completely different way of thinking about this issue: It is about removing barriers for everyone, with disabled people being the most important target group, but by far not the only one.
  • csours 9y ago
    Empathy is a much better approach than political correctness, in my opinion. Political correctness tends to shut down discussions, empathy extends them. PC is prescriptive, empathy is descriptive.
    • vog 9y ago
      I see PC as a way to spread and to communicate empathy: Using words and phrases that don't paint a false picture of reality (and don't trigger prejudices) is IMHO a good start to get to talk with people more openly. Of course, PC only works if you are doing it on your own, not if you impose it on the people you are trying to convince.
      • ticviking 9y ago
        The flaw in the politically correct approach is often that it fails to empathize with those who don't yet empathize. And often resorts to shaming when it is unable to create the empathy needed to create action.
        • klodolph 9y ago
          That's not really a criticism of political correctness, that's a criticism of one of the ways political correctness can be enforced. But it's a bit weird to equate empathy for a condition beyond one's control with empathy for people who don't choose to use empathetic language. I've been in a few classes or workshops where the instructors have taught people how to correct insensitive speech. It's something that can be done well.
          • nugator 9y ago
            Can you please give some examples on how to correct insensitive speech well?
            • klodolph 9y ago
              I did some web searches and found a document that has techniques in it that I've seen work well: http://www.dianegoodman.com/documents/RespondingToBiasedOrOffensiveCommentsexcerptarticle.pdf http://www.dianegoodman.com/documents/RespondingToBiasedOrOf... Personal anecdote: I was playing a game in college with some other students. One was periodically bragging about some particular sexual exploit in a roundabout way. I think he was looking for validation, but when he didn't get it, he tried again. I said something along the lines of, "That comment isn't acceptable and if you keep saying things like that I'm not going to play with you." It was definitely confrontational, it drew a line in the sand, and I didn't hear him say inappropriate comments for the months that we played together. Half the struggle here is just deciding that someone else's behavior isn't acceptable and that you want to do something about it.
          • vog 9y ago
    • s73ver_ 9y ago
      PC is empathy. It's having empathy for those in other situations.
      • okreallywtf 9y ago
        Except when people lack empathy, they call it political correctness. My problem is I have not found a good way to teach empathy to someone who is lacking it, repeating someone elses story doesn't work and its hard to get other people sometimes to actively experience the same things that I have (even if its just listening to a story on the radio).
        • Chris_Jay 9y ago
          In children, reading fiction is supposed to be one thing that helps empathy. There's also something called 'decompression therapy' that supposedly helped youths with psychopathy become less psychopathic. The theory as I understand it goes like this: Everyone has a 'sphere of empathy', they empathize with those inside it but not outside. To a psychopath that boundary is their own skin, to a vegetarian it includes all animals, to a pescatarian all land animals... you get the idea. What makes people's sphere of empathy expand is feeling safe and empathized with, it allows them to risk the vulnerability of empathizing with someone who might betray them. But it's like voluntarily relaxing a muscle - the process is slow, and while the right pressure can help the problem point relax, too much pressure will make it tense up more.
      • Nomentatus 9y ago
        When I was young, a long time ago, the term "politically correct" wasn't in use, except as the recorded reason Stalin gave when he sent people to be executed or imprisoned, namely that they were "politically incorrect." So I'm dubious about equating PC and empathy.
        • ticviking 9y ago
          PC was created as a label to accuse the opposition of the same kind of intent.
    • mcguire 9y ago
      I am unsure if 'political correctness' was ever used non-ironically. It certainly hasn't been so for a very long time. Usually it is used as an attack. Personally I translate it to 'good manners'.
      • vog 9y ago
        I guess my usage of PC is then to be interpreted double-ironically: I know that the term "barrierefrei" is PC, and I know that quite a lot of people will hate it for that reason alone. I use it nevertheless, because I think that PC terminology is actually a good thing (to be used, not to be enforced), and that "barrierefrei" is an especially well-chosen term.
      • maxerickson 9y ago
        Yes, it seems the most common use of "politically correct" is by people who are mad that others expect them to ponder how others might react to their words. The horror. I suppose there is some chance that they are being slightly more sophisticated and making the argument that the expectations are strictly performative. But I doubt it.
        • namelost 9y ago
          The classic example of political correctness is the term "happy holidays" instead of "merry christmas". The use of political correct terms makes people mad because it contains within it an implication that they are being rude, and often the person coming up with these euphemisms has not the faintest idea whether the existing term was offensive or not!
          • maxerickson 9y ago
            Are there any real people that care about "Merry Christmas", or is "Happy Holidays" just milquetoast corporate speak chosen out of a preference for blandness?
            • romwell 9y ago
• mstade 9y ago
  > Fix this stuff for disabled people, and other people get to benefit. Sidewalks are for everyone. This is something that bears repeating. Accessibility means making things accessible for everyone, not just people with disabilities. It's much easier to push a heavy dolly up a ramp, than it is to pull it up lips, steps, etc. Self opening doors are a god send when carrying packages.
  • CydeWeys 9y ago
    I cannot agree with this more. I'm an able-bodied man who exercises at least five days a week. I definitely don't need any of this stuff, right? I have no problems stepping up curbs, taking even many flights of stairs, etc. Until I broke my ankle in a bicycle accident last year. Then I became acutely aware of how poor some of the infrastructure is around me. The closest subway station to me doesn't have an elevator, for example, and the one nearest work only has a single elevator at one end of the platform that is often out of service. I supported accessibility standards in theory before this, but now that I've seen how they play out in practice, I strongly and emphatically support them. Empathy is hugely important. I am also so goddamn thankful that there is the requirement to have sturdy handrails alongside all flights of stairs, and that this requirement is strictly enforced (thank the ADA or building codes or whatever is responsible). With these handrails, an otherwise able-bodied person on crutches can handle staircases relatively easily. Without them, stairs are death traps, especially going down. I would have been mostly confined to my apartment without the existence of these handrails. Fortunately, they exist everywhere, so I was able to tackle the stairs at my apartment, at the subway station, at work, and in the entrances to buses.
    • pavel_lishin 9y ago
      I became very aware of which subway stops have elevators after my elderly father came to visit us, and had to walk down the two long flights of stairs to the subway platform. (Luckily, there's one - one! - escalator that goes to the main mezzanine from the lower level, but if you're on the middle level, it's the staircase for you again.) Another "temporary disability" that most people don't think of is carrying a baby. Suddenly, doors that can be operated one-handed (or even better, hands-free) are wonderful when you're trying to get your kid someplace where you can change that blow-out.
• jbob2000 9y ago
  Mother nature does not want sidewalks to exist. A smooth, even surface is not something that exists naturally, it requires us to constantly evaluate, design, and repair. You can fix a sidewalk one year, then winter happens and the ground up-heaves and shifts the concrete, and it'll be another 5 years before you can circle back to do maintenance. Or someone plants a tree in their yard and over time the roots grow under the pavement. And as you already identified, you can't depend on people to maintain the sidewalks in front of their property. We will never have perfect sidewalks, it's a noble goal, but it's pie-in-the-sky thinking to want perfect sidewalks. Instead, we should be building better accessibility devices, ones that can navigate tough terrain. Why are the wheels on mobility devices so damn small? Can they be made to be swappable so you can put on the outdoor wheels when you're travelling, and indoor ones when you want something smooth and quiet?
  • klibertp 9y ago
    > Mother nature does not want sidewalks to exist. A smooth, even surface is not something that exists naturally, How is that different from roads? > you can't depend on people to maintain the sidewalks in front of their property "in front of their property" is one way of looking at this; "alongside a road" is another.
    • CydeWeys 9y ago
      Even more so, why do we expect the state to pay for roads, which are only for drivers, but not to pay for sidewalks, which are for everyone? Sidewalks are just roads for people who aren't driving cars at the moment. Logically, if the state were going to cover the costs of one of them, it'd be sidewalks, since they can be used by all taxpayers. You could have road users pay tolls to pay for the roads, and people who don't drive could simply opt out.
  • tallblondeguy 9y ago
    > We will never have perfect sidewalks, it's a noble goal, but it's pie-in-the-sky thinking to want perfect sidewalks. We'll never have perfect anything. But I think you're being more than a bit defeatist here. I'm in the US Northeast and the sidewalk in my house was installed in 2008. Still basically flawless today. As homeowners, we accept that we need a new roof every 25 years because the consequences are real and tangible to us. I have to think that sidewalks are just part of the cost of living in a walkable community, even if we don't walk that much. A few communities down, they require sidewalk maintenance for residents if the pavers are uneven at all. It's a very affluent borough, but you'll see people grind down the edges of the sidewalk that stick up in order to meet the code. So you can maintain without replacing. And besides, we don't have this logic for roads. I mean, SUVs can handle anything, so why bother with all of this even pavement with good drainage? >Instead, we should be building better accessibility devices, ones that can navigate tough terrain. You're being downvoted for the first paragraph, but I think your second paragraph is sensible. My running stroller is way better at handling broken sidewalks than the scissor stroller with tiny wheels that fits great in a small trunk and works well at the mall. Strollers aren't super expensive (at least not $30k like that wheelchair) so I can have more than one and use the best one for my situation. We see concept robots that can handle rough terrain. Wouldn't it be great if that got integrated into wheelchairs somehow?
• acdha 9y ago
  I really liked Microsoft’s inclusive UI work for emphasizing this: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/design/inclusive https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/design/inclusive Maybe you’re normally fully abled but you benefit when you’re a new parent carrying a child, sprain an ankle, etc. The framing of short/mid/long-term is really nice for breaking the self/other empathy gap.
• dmurray 9y ago
  This is such a classic example that the phenomenon of features designed for disabled people being useful for non-disabled people (for example, closed captions on TV) has 's name: the curb cut effect.
• Spooky23 9y ago
  Funny thing is that in the suburban town adjacent to my city, the GOP platform for town supervisor (like a mayor) includes “fighting back” against mandatory sidewalks.
  • knodi123 9y ago
    small government and self-reliance are pretty standard republican platform item. criticize that if you like - I know I sure do - but it's hardly inconsistent or surprising.
    • acdha 9y ago
      Cutting public infrastructure like sidewalks prevents self-reliance — it’s saying that anyone who isn’t able-bodied and affluent enough to afford a car doesn’t belong in the community. If, instead, you provide things like accessibility, public transit, etc. millions of people can actually contribute to society rather than being dependent on charity.
  • Spivak 9y ago
    It doesn't seem that unreasonable -- people don't like to be told what to do and a small town might have more pressing issues than sidewalks which, if we're being honest about typical suburbia, that almost no one uses. I think even the staunchest conservatives would argue that a robust network of sidewalks would be nice to have -- I think the issue is making it mandatory. I think it's weird to make sidewalks your hill to die on but without context it seems like it could be a reasonable policy decision.
    • Spooky23 9y ago
      It's an inner suburb where the population center is like a lower density urban neighborhood. IMO, it's a way to fight the in-demand construction for today, which is medium density apartments, and more kids looking for access to the schools.
      • jtuente 9y ago
• rmc 9y ago
  It's important to remember that you're only temporarily able bodied. Sure you're able bodied today. But if you're lucky enough to live to an old age, your body won't be what it was. And you could be hit by a car tomorrow and paralyzed.
• TYPE_FASTER 9y ago
  > When I had kids and started walking them around in a stroller, you learn really quickly where the sidewalks with ramps are Yes. The first time we took our daughter on a subway trip in the city, and had to take many escalators to get from street to platform, back to street, was a real eye opener.
• alexanderstears 9y ago
  Empathy is a big way to raise awareness. No kidding. I'm a large person with a weightlifting hobby - so about as able bodied as a person can get - but after a frustrating experience of moving into a very poorly designed apartment building, I've started seeking out impediment-free spaces. There's just so much unnecessary bologna, pointless stairs, poorly placed ramps, etc. are all functionally the equivalent of traffic and poorly timed traffic lights: they're taxes we pay with time and frustration because some designer made poor decisions. If we're collectively paying for something, we're the boss and we have the gold so we make the rules. That means open source code, functional designs, and comprehensive cost-effective management.