Re:Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative
by makeitdouble on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @08:01AM
(#34065255)
You’re right that bullying will never be eradicated by any kind of rigid policies, be it by policing communication, or banning specific behaviors. Someone with enough motivation will find other ways. Now those ways might not be as efficient or bring the same results or require way more work, but all in all that’s a complicated matter.
On being hurt or not…I think your efforts will mostly benefit you, and not being easily hurt should make it that much easier for you to reach your goals I’d assume.
I’d compare it to physical fitness, being able to avoid people’s punches is an advantage in itself, you wouldn’t feel unfair that the others are getting hit in the face as they haven’t worked as hard.
Re:Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative
by dahfizz on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @08:36AM
(#34065651)
> All these new terms are going to be discriminatory in a few years as the bullies learn to use them.
This is called the euphemism treadmill. Soon, lots of the recommended new phrases in this list will be considered offensive and harmful.
All these new terms are going to be discriminatory in a few years as the bullies learn to use them. Telling someone that they are uncool will have as much sting as retarded, because it will mean exactly the same thing if the word retarded leaves the lexicon.
> You can’t be the one deciding if people are hurt or not, it’s their call.
I've spent a huge amount of time, literal years, learning to think in a flexible way so that I can wind my mind away from taking offence. It takes a lot of practice to develop that sort of engulfing calm. Also very rewarding, I recommend the practice. Good for a comfortable life and all that.
Sure they can make the call that they are offended, but I am conciously making the call that I am not offended. Is it really fair that after all that effort I have to contort my speech to avoid setting people off? I'm already worrying about my own offended-ness and now I'm supposed to be working around theirs as well. What are they going to do to balance all that effort out?
It is better if we all worry about our own emotions and work with what other people say. We all have responsibilities to civil discourse. Those responsibilities include tolerant listening. Getting antsy because someone runs a blind study is a long way from tolerant listening and an academic setting deserves better than that.