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For non germans: The Hamburg Courts are known for their usually insane anti-free internet interpretations of law. The fact that this was won by "the good guys"
by dtx1 5y ago
For non germans: The Hamburg Courts are known for their usually insane anti-free internet interpretations of law. The fact that this was won by "the good guys" in Hamburg of all cases is remarkable.
Springer Press, perhaps best described as the german equivalent of fox news, chose hamburg specifically for their lawsuit assuming the judges there would follow their usual retarded interpretation of the law. To have your arguments be bad and stupid enough to lose there is astounding.
- eganist 5y ago
- sol_invictus 5y ago
- rosndo 5y agoWhere should the line be drawn? Are terms like stupid, idiot or moron also unacceptable? All of these words have very similar origins.
- pasabagi 5y agoIntuitively, I'm sympathetic, then I backdate your argument by, say, 50 years, and wonder what words I'd find myself defending...
- eganist 5y agoAs another commenter stated, there's a good argument against all of these words too. More on the regulatory and medical usage 'moron' once had: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_(psychology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_(psychology) Pejoration is common; it's just something we have to continue to stay ahead of as people negatively adapt language to suit their own short term ends.
- noptd 5y ago>as another commenter stated, there's a good argument against all of these words too. As far as I can tell, the other commenter was actually making the opposite point (reducto ad absurdum).
- nobody9999 5y ago
- eganist 5y ago> It is. And always will be, no matter how much or how little the "vocabulary police" like you (is that acceptable or is that, in your small mind, (incorrectly) an ad-hominem too?) decide what language is "acceptable" and what is "unacceptable." > I'll decide for myself (and accept the judgement/consequences of my peers -- of whom you are not) what is appropriate to say in a particular context. > I don't need you or anyone else to tell me what words I should or shouldn't use. And I'll say what I want, when I want. Deal with it -- or don't and just ignore what I say, my username is at the top of all my posts. > Or blather on about why I'm a terrible person because I don't specifically subscribe to the idea that restricting the speech of others, in exactly the way you want is a good idea. > I can make my own decisions as to how to interact with others and don't need you (or anyone else) telling me what's acceptable or unacceptable. > All that said, I have no problem with you spouting off about language and I didn't even downvote you. Perhaps my example could inspire you to do the same? I won't hold my breath. It's just about being kind to people, nobody9999. That's why I submitted my original comment for awareness; it was a request, not an instruction. Given this, I can't say I understand why you're taken aback. I don't understand your sense of violation at a mere suggestion to show kindness, basically. I'm not sure I'll ever understand either, and that's okay. I wish you the best.
- gjs278 5y ago
- nobody9999 5y ago[flagged]
- DHPersonal 5y agoYes, some have encouraged people to stop using those for similar reasons. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/words-and-phrases-commonly-used-offensive-english-language-1.6252274 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/words-and-phrases-comm...
- ruined 5y agogenerally, yeah. it's always better to criticize some actual property of what you're talking about rather than try to make derogatory associations with some totally unrelated thing. people pushing these ideas aren't "stupid", they have goals you disagree with. explain why the goals are harmful and the arguments are misleading. in a more familiar context, if you are working with someone and they are making bad design decisions, calling them names isn't likely to be well received, but providing a better design is helpful. here, in online-debate-speak: "stupid" is an ad-hominem
- bryanrasmussen 5y agoAt some point there are people in the world who are stupid, there are people whose goals are stupid, at some point one must be able to describe things as they are. on edit: not necessarily so that these people are stupid, but I think vanishing the concept of stupidity is a worse result than just sometimes mistakenly describing people as stupid.
- andrewaylett 5y agoLacking intelligence is not a moral failing. Using words that imply lack of intelligence to describe moral failings associates those lacking intelligence with those lacking morals, to the detriment of those lacking intelligence.
- mannerheim 5y ago> people pushing these ideas aren't "stupid" GGGP was not calling these individuals stupid, rather, their interpretations of the law. And while they're not argued by stupid people, you would certainly have to be stupid to believe such arguments, e.g. the one at issue in this case. I don't think Axel Springer's lawyers are stupid. I think they're malicious. I think their argument is stupid and one should have to be stupid to believe it. > in a more familiar context, if you are working with someone and they are making bad design decisions, calling them names isn't likely to be well received, but providing a better design is helpful. I work with reasonable people. Entities like Axel Springer are not reasonable because they have a vested financial stake in the matter. Reason and debate won't change the money at stake for them.
- soperj 5y agoConsidering he wasn't actually describing someone with intellectual disabilities, and the word shouldn't be used to describe someone with a disability now, why can't the word be used as "foolish"?
- robbedpeter 5y ago
- simonh 5y agoPersonal feelings are not, or should not be protected in law. There is no right protecting someone from things they personally find offensive.
- jdavis703 5y agoBe that as it may, it’s still useful to be polite. I’m given the full right to flip the bird to any person I want. That doesn’t mean that I should do it to everyone I see.
- simonh 5y agoSure, and persistently targeting an individual shouldn’t be acceptable, but that’s not what’s happening here. I know there’s a strain of bullying that claims protection as “humour” too, but I didn’t divine any malign intent in the comment.
- diogenesjunior 5y ago
- eganist 5y ago> eganist is a reddit moderator, that's all that needs to be said. Regrettably, we've lost lives on the subreddit in question owing to people taking their own lives or being murdered as a consequence of threads posted to it. So I appreciate the highlight; it's definitely one of the reasons I'm so sensitive to it.
- dtx1 5y ago
- khuey 5y agoAh, so the "Eastern District of Texas" of Germany then. Good context to have, thanks.
- wand3r 5y agoYes I have heard of them, only through HN. It is like the US Western district of Texas but in Germany right?
- masklinn 5y agoTIL, I was going to say "eastern not western" but apparently after eastern got kneecapped by Heartland western rose to prominence because one of its judges is a turd, great.
- IAmEveryone 5y agoIt’s a local copy of England retained for emergencies: The people of Hamburg are seafaring, somewhat arrogant (but not without cause), used to bad weather, proud of the Beatles, envious of Berlin, and really wrong about libel law.
- andybak 5y agoBrit here. Hamburg always felt strangely familiar. Now I know why.
- adamc 5y agoWell, I can't fault them for being proud of the Beatles.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mardifoufs 5y agoWhy would british people be envious of Berlin? London is a better city in almost every way, and that's coming from an outsider to both countries. Berlin isn't even in the top 5 cities in its own country, lol. Genuinely curious because most Germans I've met don't particularly love Berlin at all, either unless they live there. Maybe you are right, and they are just envious though .
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]