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Yeah, and if you think that's bad, then it makes my fucking point.

SahAssar 6y ago
Sure, but it also makes the point where you perhaps should not send that, right? If you think something is harmful or bad then perhaps don't say you're going to do it to others. Especially when the person is a individual that often does not have control of the policies that they have to represent professionally in their work.
- ddevault 6y ago
  I don't understand your argument. The joke is meant to be illustrative of the problem, to inspire empathy in an otherwise unempathetic party. This requires an understanding of the unpleasantness of the situation. If I did not communicate that unpleasantness, then the desired effect is not achieved. What would you have done?
  - SahAssar 6y ago
    We're getting into some philosophical areas here (and these are very deep waters for me, so forgive me if I misstep), but it sounds to me like you think the only way to get empathy is to put the other party to get into the same theoretical situation. I think there are other ways to get others to understand you and get empathy. I don't think you need to make someone else experience the unpleasantness to make them feel empathy, you can communicate unpleasantness without (in this case jokingly) threatening to inflict it. In this case the person you are talking to is probably not at all responsible for the original problem, so I think the need to consider both the human and the company you are talking to is larger than when dealing with a single person.
akerl_ 6y ago
Suggesting to somebody else that you’ll inflict something on them that you did not appreciate having been done to you is basically a textbook violation of the golden rule. If you think what is happening to you is bad, the suggestion that you’ll inflict the behavior on another is also bad. If you don’t think it’s bad to do this to the support rep, the blog post is a bit of an odd move.

Sure, but it also makes the point where you perhaps should not send that, right? If you think something is harmful or bad then perhaps don't say you're going to do it to others. Especially when the person is a individual that often does not have control of the policies that they have to represent professionally in their work.

ddevault 6y ago
I don't understand your argument. The joke is meant to be illustrative of the problem, to inspire empathy in an otherwise unempathetic party. This requires an understanding of the unpleasantness of the situation. If I did not communicate that unpleasantness, then the desired effect is not achieved. What would you have done?
- SahAssar 6y ago
  We're getting into some philosophical areas here (and these are very deep waters for me, so forgive me if I misstep), but it sounds to me like you think the only way to get empathy is to put the other party to get into the same theoretical situation. I think there are other ways to get others to understand you and get empathy. I don't think you need to make someone else experience the unpleasantness to make them feel empathy, you can communicate unpleasantness without (in this case jokingly) threatening to inflict it. In this case the person you are talking to is probably not at all responsible for the original problem, so I think the need to consider both the human and the company you are talking to is larger than when dealing with a single person.

akerl_ 6y ago

Suggesting to somebody else that you’ll inflict something on them that you did not appreciate having been done to you is basically a textbook violation of the golden rule. If you think what is happening to you is bad, the suggestion that you’ll inflict the behavior on another is also bad. If you don’t think it’s bad to do this to the support rep, the blog post is a bit of an odd move.