Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 157 posts

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#121

Post by ticviking »

[deleted] wrote: post #119
ticviking wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a survivor myself. That is on me. I can't control my first reaction, the feelings of panic, being trapped and so on. I can however choose what I do once I feel those things. If I try to push responsibility for my safety onto others, or hold others accountable for MY psychological reactions is to insist that they participate in my treatment. It seems to be that if I need to draft my entire community in my…

[deleted]

I believe the standard treatment in that case is exposure therapy, in which with the help of a therapist you trigger the chain reaction so you can practice and become adept at navigating your feelings and reactions to these things.

More generally, asking "why do I believe X" is a helpful beginning point for this kind of self-reflection.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#122

Post by venomsnake »

proveanegative wrote: post #36
DanFeldman wrote: post #9

I can definitely relate first hand to this as a current college student. To borrow some jargon, I absolutely feel 'unsafe' discussing many of these topics in public, and I don't hold controversial or polarizing opinions. Some people quickly label others as racist or misogynistic for presenting contrary viewpoints. Granted, those who seek to shut out debate by this sort of censorship are probably not worth debating, i…

On the other hand, I wonder if this opens the door for more radical opinions on the opposite side. If those who deviate from the socially enforced norm expect (whether correctly or not) for their views to be condemned anyway the marginal social cost of holding more extreme views is lessened.

If I am gonna be labeled uneducated, fatphobic, racist, misogynistic, overpriviled white mansplainer, supporting rape culture why bother with discussion instead of just saying the most inflammatory thing possible hoping to give the other side a stroke ...

Disclaimer - I love teasing both ultra conservatives, ultra religious, and radical feminists to blood ... I do not discriminate against any group - if you are fanatic, you deserve to be mocked and provoked.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#123

Post by anthony_d »

throwaway9324 wrote: post #69

This is a pretty bad opinion piece using scare quotes, personal attacks and anecdotal commentary. It's disappointing to see this up-voted since people here aren't interested in a debate, but just to affirming there own views on the subject. I pretty glad I got out of the mainstream tech industry when I had the chance. Edit: And yes please reaffirm what cowards you are by down-voting instead of replying.

Well, it does look trollish to complain about the lack of debate without actually debating a point. Do you have an on-topic opinion to share?

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#124

Post by mercer »

noonespecial wrote: post #47

"Nowadays, it is true, we are made so sensitive by the raving crowd of flatterers that we cry out that we are stung as soon as we meet with disapproval. When we cannot ward off the truth with any other pretext, we flee from it by ascribing it to a fierce temper, impatience, and immodesty." - Martin Luther, 1520! Maybe not such a new phenomenon?

Well, either 1) things haven't changed much, or 2) history rhymes...

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#125

Post by venomsnake »

gd1 wrote: post #94
Negitivefrags wrote: post #19

The more I see this kind of thing the more I am starting to fear that this is an unintended consequence of the internet. Similarly to being raised in a cult, the internet gives people the ability to spend most of their time in a community that reinforces their world view while forcing out any dissenting view points. Subcultures on the internet tend to trend towards the more and more extreme as anybody expressing an o…

You can see it in action on Hacker News, or any sites with downvotes. Inevitably, the downvoting will destabilise any equilibrium - the views of even a slight majority will get reinforced in a positive feedback loop, and you end up with an echo chamber. There are several opinions that I know can't be voiced here.

I frequent HN, often write controversial opinions and the downvotes are rare, usually I have someone spend the time and write a reply. The way adults should deal with the stuff. But we techies love to argue for the sake of arguing, so we are good at looking at it as a game.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#126

Post by throwaway9324 »

jqm wrote: post #88

Here is my (completely unsupported) prediction... People involved in "safe spaces" or passing out fliers against "rape culture" (not rape, that's a crime and a different subject), generally, on average, after college, don't enjoy happy long term rewarding relationships, successful careers nor make a lot money nor contributions to the world. When I was in college in the early 90's I flirted briefly with the emerging "…

I wouldn't think so. Being actively involved in things in college seem to be one of the better indicators of success in those areas. I know many geeks who aren't especially successful in those areas and I don't think less of them because of it.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#127

Post by GabrielF00 »

cauterized wrote: post #97

People can be thrown into paralysis or panic by PTSD. Giving a warning that something is about to be discussed in depth that might trigger such an attack, allowing someone who knows they would experience one to absent themselves while the lecture or discussion continues, isn't censorship. It's courtesy.

I think it's reasonable for a professor to give some notice to students that they're about to be exposed to something graphic. If students want to avoid reading a particular piece or going to a particular event, then that's their choice as adults. I don't think it's reasonable to insist that things that might be upsetting should be removed from one's environment.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#128

Post by ams6110 »

washadjeffmad wrote: post #120
tunesmith wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always rolled my eyes at complaints about the "trophy generation" (Adam Carolla had a particularly brain-deadening rant about it), but this article honestly did get me wondering about how people like that would be able to cope with actual professional atmospheres after college. On the other hand, this article is an editorial that doesn't really try to quantify the problem, so maybe "people like that" aren't real…

They've been taught, whether or not they realize it, how to morally ransom others, guiltlessly. To ignore them is to marginalize them, to disagree with them is to threaten them, and to oppose them is assault. It's incredibly hypocritical and self-centered behavior, especially for an adult. And what I fear is that they'll shape whatever environments that will allow it because everyone else has kowtowed to their feelin…

Your business manager examples sounds to me like standard office politics, same as forever.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#129

Post by cauterized »

GabrielF00 wrote: post #127
cauterized wrote: post #97

People can be thrown into paralysis or panic by PTSD. Giving a warning that something is about to be discussed in depth that might trigger such an attack, allowing someone who knows they would experience one to absent themselves while the lecture or discussion continues, isn't censorship. It's courtesy.

I think it's reasonable for a professor to give some notice to students that they're about to be exposed to something graphic. If students want to avoid reading a particular piece or going to a particular event, then that's their choice as adults. I don't think it's reasonable to insist that things that might be upsetting should be removed from one's environment.

Context matters there, IMO. If an image that someone finds incredibly disturbing is printed at 4x8 feet and hung in the lobby of a building a student has to enter every day to get to classes, it's not unreasonable for them to ask that it be moved. If that same image is in an exhibit in a gallery of the campus museum where it can be easily avoided, it's unreasonable to ask for its removal.

Re: In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas

#130

Post by tunesmith »

cheatsheet wrote: post #81
tunesmith wrote: post #8

It wasn't so long ago that "trigger warning" wasn't even a common phrase. I remember thinking about this in college, though, because I was in a relationship with someone who would get angry at people for expressing input that was too closely related to recent private trauma she had been through. I didn't really understand it because I had always trained myself to judge the producer of input by the intent of the produ…

I am sort of on the fence on this. On one hand, I do not like pursuing ignorance. On the other, I do not objectively know the difference between a mind that is repeatedly triggered by random noise that can immediately bring my mind back into a state of flipping between catatonia and hyper-stress/hyper-alert, and a mind that is able to control information flow and pursue it's goals (such as a phd and happiness in life…

I think what you're saying is compatible to what I meant to say. In my last sentence I was thinking later that "censoring" would have been a better word choice than "avoiding". If I'm in a social environment with a friend that I know has had a certain trauma, then of course I wouldn't have a problem with avoiding certain topics. But I wouldn't agree with censoring those general topics from a lecture (assuming the topics would be presented professionally and not flippantly).
Post reply on HN