Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Therefore, statistically and empirically women are more interested in pay-equity laws. I don't think that actually follows: 1. People are perfectly capable of caring for injustices they don't experience personally. E.g. men being interested in pay-equity laws not because it would benefit them, but because of a belief that they are necessary for a just society. 2. People are also perfectly capable of acting against t…
> I don't think that actually follows Which is why I said statistically and empirically. As to men caring about this too, this is obviously possible, but even if they care, they are less affected, so they may prioritize it less. Like the joke about the chicken and the pig vis-a-vis breakfast: The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed!
How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
71–80 of 157 posts
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#72I suspect a large part of this is down to 1. People defaulting to the nuclear option constantly, in their reactions, and 2. People not wanting to accept that some issues are complex, and that a blanket approach doesn't work. The latter of these is the real issue. People love being outraged over the lack of women in STEM fields, and how those that are are treated, but few people talk about the lack of men in teaching…
I would argue that neither are issues, so long as the imbalances aren't due to discrimination (like real discrimination, not the "anything can be discrimination if you put your mind to it!" stuff we see today).
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#73Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're right about most of this, especially the fact that news media coverage is "bite-sized" and incomprehensive. But, I'd like to point out that the lack of women in STEM fields is about decision-making power and not necessarily equity. Women aren't fighting for equity in garbage collection jobs either. If women are to have equal say on the goings-on's of society they need to partake in the upper echelons o…
> If women are to have equal say on the goings-on's of society they need to partake in the upper echelons of power equally (Government, Corporate Leadership, STEM positions etc.) Aha! Now I understand the arguments better.
Using that same argument means throwing away the idea that you are not defined and judged based solely on your sex, gender, race etc.
What you do and who you are is important. What you are (woman, gay, ginger etc.) is not important.
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#75My theory is that we are living in society where people take cues on how to deal with everyday issues from media, social media and written word instead of their community and social environment. We look at the Rorschach inkblot and there is always some group who knows how it makes you feel and how those feelings are responsibility of others if you are willing to listen.
Our culture is becoming neurotic.
edit:
Google n-gram viewer for "toilet seat up": https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=+toilet+seat+u...
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#76This can lead to libertarian leaning people (like me and many members of Hacker News) mischaracterising the world-view of many conservatives/liberals who have different moral beliefs to us and having discussions with them which are not constructive.
Johnathan Haidt has some interesting ideas on the topic. The idea that many people value stability/group loyalty/ideas of sanctity is often missed by many responses to moral issues on this site when people correctly state 'I can't see who is being harmed here' or 'I'm uncomfortable with people's freedom being restricted' in response to the day's moral issue.
Ultimately, many/most people have a bunch of sacred beliefs/narratives that they do not objectively challenge when faced with new evidence (instead they act like defence lawyers trying to reframe/discredit the information).
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
We'd have to look at a meta-study to weed out problems in individual studies. "Encouraging everyone equally is great". We should probably just end the argument on that point we both agree :). The rest will work itself out. If everybody was encouraged and inspired equally and there were still imbalances your point will remain. Unfortunately, that's not true today, so we won't know. Iran and India have much higher repr…
> Iran and India have much higher representation of women in STEM fields, and while they have other issues with misogyny, the inculcation of ambition (across gender lines) is very high (I say that having lived in India). The result seems to contradict any "biological" predilections. I don't see how it does. If I were to guess I'd say that in those countries there is a greater economic necessity to go into a high earn…
Because currently, a 'passion' for STEM fields will tilt your future power prospects. If there is a systematic bias that causes a tilt the other way, it is simply untenable.
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The most outspoken people against both aren't from the countryside, have never kept cattle or been on hunts, don't understand (or want to think too much) about the issues involved, but know that badgers and foxes are cute. You have your point, but is a common and too simplistic interpretation. We need to repeat this more: To have cattle or being able to shoot a rabbit is irrelevant and not a guarantee at all to und…
> all those knowledge is generated normally in universities, placed in big cities, after years of painfully slow research done by experts in zoology, chemistry, genetics... IIRC, so are the ideas that wolves, an animal capable of eating sheep or even moose would not eat children if they happened to walk unprotected. Not saying we should get rid of wolves only that some realism need to be applied.
Do you know what other animals can be dangerous for a small children in a close encounter?: Buffaloes, mooses, deers, bulls, rams, bears, rats, horses, rhinos, donkeys, chimps, coyotes, pigs, snakes, racoons, big cats, snapping turtles, electric eels, lots of arthropods, and most of all other humans or machines created by humans. This is the reason for small children never should walk unprotected by unsafe areas. For children there is a change at least of surviving a close encounter with a wolf, that will not enjoy if is a buffalo instead.
Curiously today the local press tells a story about a man that died after four years fighting lyme disease caused by a deer tick bite. For some arrogant interplanetary alignment, lyme disease cases are increasing in my country at the same time as wolves being culled regularly.
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#79> like saying the word “fútbol” instead of soccer Hispanic folks: Is this in fact a thing that feels alienating to you? If so, would you be willing to explain why? It is the first time I've heard about it so I'd just like to confirm that Conor Friedersdorf is referring to a real thing.
Re: How Americans Became So Sensitive to Harm
#80> like saying the word “fútbol” instead of soccer Hispanic folks: Is this in fact a thing that feels alienating to you? If so, would you be willing to explain why? It is the first time I've heard about it so I'd just like to confirm that Conor Friedersdorf is referring to a real thing.
I'm not Hispanic, and don't care at all about soccer, but I imagine it would be aggravating as hell. I'm black, and when white people call me bro, or start speaking in dialect - I honestly start to hate them. For cultural reasons, when a lot of white Americans are talking about getting fighting and getting angry, or partying and having fun, relaxing and being lazy, flirting or getting laid, or one-upping people or hu…
To provide context while answering something you asked, I grew up in philly. I went to a city high school. I have (and most of the other white kids I associated with have) some parts of a philly accent, which I'm very aware I revert to when I, as you say, start partying/relaxing, but in my case it's because I'm relaxing the forced inflection of my speech, and my more natural way of talking comes out. The same thing happens if I talk to someone with a similar east coast manner of speech out of a natural desire to express similarity and establish comfort with the conversation partner. (to answer your, I imagine somewhat rhetorical, question about "do you drop into dialect... white friends", since the above is a thing sans-race)
I can tell you authoritatively, although you may not believe me (or say I should stop anyway, which would beg other questions on my part), that there's no "deep opinion" of black culture or speech in that, in fact, the highschool was unfortunately VERY self segregating and most of the white kids didn't have enough interaction to form deep opinions. (which is part of why I'd be curious to ask now about the accent thing, since I know that ALL of the kids there, race aside, picked it up to some degree but it was never something that was discussed, since we just... didn't really talk.)
I say this largely in the hope, if we ever talk and I accidentally let that show, that you would think better of me for it and not start to hate :) (the world already has plenty of that, as you point out from the insinuations you identify)