3 ms·

Intimate and personal interactions are the one place where being discriminating is a very good thing.

• jawns 7y ago
  I tend to use the phrases "unjust discrimination" or "prejudicial discrimination" when talking about the sort of discrimination that ascribes negative or stereotypical characteristics to a person based on their membership in a class. But discrimination on its own is a neutral action, and as you point out, being discriminating by judging things on _relevant_ attributes is perfectly legitimate and often a mark of wisdom. So I would reject what you say about interpersonal relationships being the only area where being discriminating is laudable. Employers are discriminating when interviewing job applicants -- but hopefully, they are practicing appropriate discrimination, and weeding out people based on their skills and capacity to do the job, rather than inappropriate discrimination, based on a prejudicial reasoning. Similarly, consumers are discriminating when they look for products or services that are of high quality, and there's nothing wrong with that.
  • joshuaheard 7y ago
    In law, the term is "invidious discrimination" to describe unjust discrimination.
• gshdg 7y ago
  "Being discriminating" is not necessarily the same thing as "discriminating".