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Of course, offense is just as difficult and impossible to judge as intent. In both cases, one can simply ask the individual, "Were you offended?" or "What was y
by mcherm 5y ago
Of course, offense is just as difficult and impossible to judge as intent. In both cases, one can simply ask the individual, "Were you offended?" or "What was your intent?" But biased or motivated itself reporting makes each unreliable.
I certainly agree with your final conclusion: it depends on what society is willing to tolerate in terms of false positives and in terms of false negatives. And particularly, the balance between those two kinds of errors.
- yeetaccount4 5y agoAnyone can say they’re offended without any cost to themselves. It’s ‘cheap’, and the outcome is often very ‘expensive’ for the offender. You could even make the case that virtue is derived from being offended. This disproportionality invites bad faith. I’ve stopped caring about people’s offense.
- zehaeva 5y agoAnyone can say they didn't mean it that way/they were joking without any cost to themselves as well. Not to say that there isn't anything wrong with how people have been increasingly incensed in the last few decades, but that's basically what it was like in the 90s and before. Someone was like, "whoa dude what you said wasn't cool" was met with "it was just a joke". Your reasoning cuts both ways I think.
- yeetaccount4 5y agoIt doesn’t cost the other party anything to say you were joking. Saying you’re offended can lead to lost economic opportunity for somebody.