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First, I would like to recommend http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html as background for what I object to about political correc
by btilly 6y ago
First, I would like to recommend http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html as background for what I object to about political correctness.
Political correctness pushes the idea that the whole world should be trying to create a safe space for those who have had any kind of past challenge. There is a time and place for safe spaces. However the act of encouraging people to figure out what problems they can complain about, then coddling them, makes people more fragile. This has long-lasting negative implications for their mental health.
For example https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201802/5-major-issues-helicopter-parenting-can-cause https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong... explains what has actually been observed in children whose parents tended too closely to their perceived needs. Similarly therapists have found that encouraging people with PTSD to avoid any reminder of their past trauma actually makes the trauma worse. Instead it is more effective to desensitize them with controlled exposure to the trauma to teach them to be able to handle it.
This gives us some idea of how to create mental health. What are we doing instead? Well, we are teaching a whole generation that the world needs to take care of them due to a variety of past misdeeds. In the process we teach them to be sensitive to things that otherwise would not have bothered them very much. We then encourage them to demand that they not encounter reminders of what they don't like, and try to make the whole world a "safe space" for them. This is a recipe for systemically creating PTSD among people who otherwise would not develop it. Thereby creating the exact condition that we are trying to help. And, having created it, we have motivation to do more of the same so that more people become fragile.
I know, I know. This isn't a popular point of view. It suggests that a large portion of the SJW agenda is backwards. However I believe, and there is evidence from psychology to back me up, that it is right. We should not go overboard to protect people from encountering speech and ideas that they don't like. We should instead make people resilient to that experience. Both for their mental health, and so that they learn critical thinking.
- spacekitcat 6y agoIn my country, "Political Correctness" is a dog whistle used by Daily Mail readers. It doesn't mean anything. I don't shape my thinking by what some talking head thinks. Why do you think I asked for a concrete example? I notice that you didn't provide one either.
- btilly 6y agoConcrete examples of political correctness gone bad. Censoring the OP for calling someone else wrong. (When the person called wrong is actually a friend and didn't object.) Cisco firing employees for saying, "All lives matter." Maya Forstater being fired for expressing the opinion that while she used people's preferred pronouns, she thought of trans people as their original gender if they still had their real genitalia. Emmanuel Cafferty (a Mexican American) being fired for an alleged white supremacist hand gesture that he had never even HEARD of as a white supremacist hand gesture. (Also did I mention that he's not even white?) Ongoing persecution of academics who dare research trans issues from any perspective that trans activists do not approve of. See https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/academics-are-being-harassed-over-their-research-into-transgender-issues https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/academics-ar... for more on that. Is that enough examples for you?
- spacekitcat 6y agoI’m trans and you are twisting quite a few of those, but you don’t exist from this point on as far as I’m concerned. I won’t debate my my right to be with anyone, least of all you.
- btilly 6y agoWonderful. You don't believe that people have the right to have opinions that you dislike. And don't see that as a problem. Possibly because you expect people whose opinions you dislike to treat you like you would treat them if positions were reversed. I don't mind being dead to you. But I don't want you, or people like you, to be in a position to make decisions about what I can say. Nor do I particularly want to be in a position to decide what you can say. What I want is called "freedom of speech". As the old saying goes, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." However when you open up the door to stopping other people from speaking, you have opened up the door to them stopping you from speaking. Are you sure that all of your opinions agree with that majority? Really? You think nothing that others might find controversial? If so, that's weird. And good luck if you ever change your mind about anything important.