Live data from Hacker News

Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

itcommunity.stanford.edu

281–290 of 1001 posts

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#281
This kind of initiative lacks a core understanding of the requirements for thinking and intelligence in general, and by its nature of compulsion is subversive.

In order to think, you must risk being offensive, in order to learn you must risk being offended. In either case, you must have the freedom to do either, and compulsion is evil.

By compelling speech like that, you are indoctrinating future generations, and doing so along a path where they will be at a disadvantage and won't think because they have been brought up in an environment where the priority given is that it is more important to say the politically correct/right thing than it is to risk being offensive or do anything. If you can't question anything, can you even form a basis for real thought?

Do you have any value as a person if all you do is parrot what someone else says?

Not only that, but it also shares some of the same philosophy that lead to the deaths under Mao.

This makes me fear for the future because Stanford people are supposed to be intelligent, and yet this is just so utterly... stupid, borderline brainwashing, and it likely violates core institutional mandates/ethos.

That this is even getting any traction, you have to wonder wtf is going on up there. Clearly someone, more likely many need to be fired. Unbelievable.

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#282
This got dark quick: "basket case" Originally referred to one who has lost all four limbs and therefore needed to be carried around in a basket.

I've only heard of basket case from the context of barely ridable motorcycle in a constant state of repair with its random parts in a basket.

I wish it was my job to make this sort of document. I'd make up all sorts of crazy backstories for slang no one has ever heard of.

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#283
post #97

Died by suicide? Suicide is a self-inflicted act; committed suicide is correct - and I say this as a man living on the edge. To diminish that is to refuse to accept the underlying cause, which is a bad fucking way to stop it from happening again (or at least to someone else). This whole damned list is retarded. Most of the elements aren't even accurate; they're euphemisms. Someone with OCD isn't 'detail-oriented' the…

I think you have a point, but on the other hand consider “stand-up meeting.” If my team included a person who used a wheelchair, I am highly confident that my team and I would not call our daily scrum a daily stand-up.

Honestly, I think people in wheelchairs have more important shit to worry about.

Fucked bodies - but they have to be tough as nails mentally.

(And stop doing scrum.)

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#286

This got dark quick: "basket case" Originally referred to one who has lost all four limbs and therefore needed to be carried around in a basket. I've only heard of basket case from the context of barely ridable motorcycle in a constant state of repair with its random parts in a basket. I wish it was my job to make this sort of document. I'd make up all sorts of crazy backstories for slang no one has ever heard of.

Same with me when I was a teen and all my friends had motorcycles, several ending up being basket cases.

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#289
This thread started a day ago, but only had about an hour on the front page. Reposts keep appearing, so there is obviously an appetite for this story. Instead of a duplicate/split discussion, I've re-upped the original thread and merged the others hither.

If you're going to comment, please make sure you're up on the site guidelines and that your comment is within them: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

Post reply on HN