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Leaving in protest, fine. But jeering, booing and taunting, that’s a step too far. That no longer protesting a speaker as part of a free debate, but instead att

Leaving in protest, fine. But jeering, booing and taunting, that’s a step too far. That no longer protesting a speaker as part of a free debate, but instead attacking them as an individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission. There’s no space for that kind of behaviour in a university debate. The individual in question wasn’t a celebrity or politician knowingly stepping into the lions den, but just a student asking an honest and fair question.

batrachos 5y ago
> There’s no space for that kind of behaviour in a university debate. Setting the present question aside, I think this is a very time-bound point of view. There used to be riots in Harvard Yard over theological questions. Now we're so cowed that a little booing and a walkout is national news. I think we could use to be a little ruder to each other.
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  Maybe I'm starting to get old, but indeed to me booing sounds like part and parcel of a university debate on a divisive topic... People clap, people boo, sometimes worse!
- afiori 5y ago
  I prefer my academic research not be conducted in terms of unorganized trials by combat.
- avianlyric 5y ago
  The big difference is that if you’re attending a riot in Harvard Yard, then you clearly know what you’re getting yourself into, and you’re making an informed decision to participate and accept the consequences. However if you’re someone attending a spoken debate, and you’re asking a reasonable question backed by lived experience (as opposed to a deliberately provocative question based on the assumed experiences of others), then you shouldn’t be subjected to direct personal attacks. Attacking someone because their lived experiences run counter to your preferred world view is just intellectual cowardice. You’re neither trying to learn from the speaker, or provide a valuable counter-experience. You’re running from knowledge that might force you re-assess your world view.
YATA0 5y ago
>But jeering, booing and taunting, that’s a step too far. That no longer protesting a speaker as part of a free debate, but instead attacking them as an individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission. That would remove a significant portion of campus leftists.
- happymellon 5y ago
  Are you saying that it's right or unacceptable from anyone? Because it sounds like you are trying to turn it into whataboutism.
  - YATA0 5y ago
    >Are you saying that it's right or unacceptable from anyone? Are you asking for my personal opinion, the opinion of college administration, the opinion of student bodies, etc.? >Because it sounds like you are trying to turn it into whataboutism. It's not whataboutism because campus leftists have been doing exactly what the OP described: "But jeering, booing and taunting, that’s a step too far. That no longer protesting a speaker as part of a free debate, but instead attacking them as an individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission." That's the MO for campus "cancel culture".
    - happymellon 5y ago
      I'm asking for your opinion, because you are trying to distract from unacceptable behaviour by saying "but the left..." > It's not whataboutism because campus leftists Thank you for confirming that you are unable to have discourse without blaming people uninvolved in the situation via whataboutism.
      - YATA0 5y ago
        >I'm asking for your opinion Students should be cordial and have spirited debate free of jeering and taunting. That used to be the standard. >because you are trying to distract from unacceptable behaviour by saying "but the left..." This is a non sequitur. I am not trying to distract anyone, I'm pointing out that if the standard is to exclude those who jeer, taunt, and attack the individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission, then this would lead to large portions of campus leftist being punished. >Thank you for confirming That wasn't a confirmation, you literally proved my point for me. >unable to have discourse without blaming people uninvolved in the situation via whataboutism. This is by definition not whataboutism because I am not attempting to discredit the OPs position. QED. Thank you for confirming that you are incapable of having discourse because you are incapable of understanding basic concepts like whataboutism and are T R I G G E R E D because someone called out leftists as those partaking in unacceptable behavior.

batrachos 5y ago

> There’s no space for that kind of behaviour in a university debate. Setting the present question aside, I think this is a very time-bound point of view. There used to be riots in Harvard Yard over theological questions. Now we're so cowed that a little booing and a walkout is national news. I think we could use to be a little ruder to each other.

mytailorisrich 5y ago
Maybe I'm starting to get old, but indeed to me booing sounds like part and parcel of a university debate on a divisive topic... People clap, people boo, sometimes worse!
afiori 5y ago
I prefer my academic research not be conducted in terms of unorganized trials by combat.
avianlyric 5y ago
The big difference is that if you’re attending a riot in Harvard Yard, then you clearly know what you’re getting yourself into, and you’re making an informed decision to participate and accept the consequences. However if you’re someone attending a spoken debate, and you’re asking a reasonable question backed by lived experience (as opposed to a deliberately provocative question based on the assumed experiences of others), then you shouldn’t be subjected to direct personal attacks. Attacking someone because their lived experiences run counter to your preferred world view is just intellectual cowardice. You’re neither trying to learn from the speaker, or provide a valuable counter-experience. You’re running from knowledge that might force you re-assess your world view.

YATA0 5y ago

>But jeering, booing and taunting, that’s a step too far. That no longer protesting a speaker as part of a free debate, but instead attacking them as an individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission. That would remove a significant portion of campus leftists.

happymellon 5y ago
Are you saying that it's right or unacceptable from anyone? Because it sounds like you are trying to turn it into whataboutism.
- YATA0 5y ago
  >Are you saying that it's right or unacceptable from anyone? Are you asking for my personal opinion, the opinion of college administration, the opinion of student bodies, etc.? >Because it sounds like you are trying to turn it into whataboutism. It's not whataboutism because campus leftists have been doing exactly what the OP described: "But jeering, booing and taunting, that’s a step too far. That no longer protesting a speaker as part of a free debate, but instead attacking them as an individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission." That's the MO for campus "cancel culture".
  - happymellon 5y ago
    I'm asking for your opinion, because you are trying to distract from unacceptable behaviour by saying "but the left..." > It's not whataboutism because campus leftists Thank you for confirming that you are unable to have discourse without blaming people uninvolved in the situation via whataboutism.
    - YATA0 5y ago
      >I'm asking for your opinion Students should be cordial and have spirited debate free of jeering and taunting. That used to be the standard. >because you are trying to distract from unacceptable behaviour by saying "but the left..." This is a non sequitur. I am not trying to distract anyone, I'm pointing out that if the standard is to exclude those who jeer, taunt, and attack the individual in the hopes of cowing them into submission, then this would lead to large portions of campus leftist being punished. >Thank you for confirming That wasn't a confirmation, you literally proved my point for me. >unable to have discourse without blaming people uninvolved in the situation via whataboutism. This is by definition not whataboutism because I am not attempting to discredit the OPs position. QED. Thank you for confirming that you are incapable of having discourse because you are incapable of understanding basic concepts like whataboutism and are T R I G G E R E D because someone called out leftists as those partaking in unacceptable behavior.