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It fascinates me that "virtue signalling" is used as such an easy dismissal of people's opinions because they dare to actually talk about them. The whole point
by untog 8y ago
It fascinates me that "virtue signalling" is used as such an easy dismissal of people's opinions because they dare to actually talk about them.
The whole point of taking a stand on an issue is to inspire others. If you, as an individual, quit your job because of ethical concerns you know full well that losing one developer is not about to make the company change course. But talking about leaving, why you left, and what you want to change, is the way of spreading that message to others. To dismiss that as "virtue signalling" is baffling. Or just extremely lazy.
- sayno3 8y ago"Virtue Signaling" or "SJW" as derogative implies useless or hypocritical sense of the terms. Of course it's a good thing to signal positive virtues or fight for social justice. Used negatively, "virtue signaling" implies that one is using perceived virtue as a way to dog-whistle for a specific tribal group, for a trendy but ultimately counter-productive virtue. It is disingenuous and not the point of actual virtue, which is selfless and not using virtue to primarily increase one's social standing. Like SJW is used for someone tilting at windmills and going out of their way to attack someone for views which are only 'bad' through a lot of mental gymnastics. Like the phrase "make america great again" or "freedom fighter" can ostensibly be a positive thing, but in actual practice is often used to disguise negative things.
- Terr_ 8y agoSlightly rambling here: I think the charitable interpretation of "virtue signalling" is that the person sees "bragging", "showing off", or "holier than thou." In contrast, there are some people out who use it to mean "that subject is taboo because it makes me uncomfortable."