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A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

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51–60 of 188 posts

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#51

More people need to learn that if you leave your bubbles and talk to people, you'll find that they are actually indeed people too, and not caricatures you read about on outrage-bait new articles.

Only do this if you're part of the in-group. If you're part of the out-group and reveal yourself, you could lose your job, friends, and more. If you were to reach out or fraternize with someone like James Damore, you will likely be cast out.

This is actually the impression I got from the medium post: he didn't reveal any viewpoints that would risk exposing him as not being part of the in-group, whether or not he actually held any.

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#52

The author either has a fundamental misunderstanding of the criticisms against "safe spaces" or he's deliberately mischaracterizing them to earn the favor of his classmates. > What she meant by “safe space” was that she was happy to be in an environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly, without the risk of disrespect or harsh judgement. If that's actually how safe spaces were implemented in practice,…

> A common example is that people opposed to sex-reassignment surgery are not allowed into discussions about trangenderism [sic!] because their opinions are considered "disrespectful" or even "violent" to transgender people. What does "being opposed to sex-reassignment surgery" even mean? I see two options: 1. Being opposed to others having the possibility of undergoing such a surgery. 2. Being opposed to undergoing…

> In the first case, I do believe it's disrespectful of the freedom to do with one's body as one pleases

You aren’t allowed to harm yourself. You could argue that you should but under current laws we protect people from that, mostly.

Also doctors have to perform these surgeries in which case their oath would mandate we are certain this procedure isn’t causing harm.

And finally and perhaps most importantly. These surgeries can be performed before the age of 18.

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A common example is that people opposed to sex-reassignment surgery are not allowed into discussions about trangenderism [sic!] because their opinions are considered "disrespectful" or even "violent" to transgender people. What does "being opposed to sex-reassignment surgery" even mean? I see two options: 1. Being opposed to others having the possibility of undergoing such a surgery. 2. Being opposed to undergoing…

> In the first case, I do believe it's disrespectful of the freedom to do with one's body as one pleases You aren’t allowed to harm yourself. You could argue that you should but under current laws we protect people from that, mostly. Also doctors have to perform these surgeries in which case their oath would mandate we are certain this procedure isn’t causing harm. And finally and perhaps most importantly. These surg…

"And finally and perhaps most importantly. These surgeries can be performed before the age of 18."

Can you cite numbers as to where, and how often, this is happening?

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#54

The author either has a fundamental misunderstanding of the criticisms against "safe spaces" or he's deliberately mischaracterizing them to earn the favor of his classmates. > What she meant by “safe space” was that she was happy to be in an environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly, without the risk of disrespect or harsh judgement. If that's actually how safe spaces were implemented in practice,…

Or... this could be an honest example and you don't have a full understanding of how "safe space" is used. You apply skepticism about a charged thing to a man you don't know who seems to be writing honestly about people he wouldn't normally fit in with and how other people have misunderstood them. Do you have space for self reflection on this? Twitter and MSM run on outrage. Would it be completely shocking to you to learn that you don't know the whole story?

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#55
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sure safe spaces are implemented in a variety of ways and with varying levels of competence. I would point out that "being opposed to sex-reassignment surgery" is not so much an opinion as it is an ideology. I suspect many safe spaces would be far more open to including people who subscribe to that ideology if those people entered those discussions with a willingness to learn, a desire to honestly explore the pr…

> a desire to honestly explore the pros and cons of that surgery What if these pros and cons were subjective, and someone decided that in the end, the cons outweighed the pros? Would you cast them as an evil person and exile them from your safe space? Would you accept their opinion, respectfully disagree, and move on? It seems that you must either abide by the ideology, censor yourself, or be exiled and called a nazi…

> Is everyone really required to learn all these new words / triggers / etc. in order to appease a tiny tiny fraction of the population?

Every person you meet is a minority of 1 in 7 billion. Is it so hard for you to learn how to understand people? Do you have trouble with new words and concepts?

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#56
post #30

The thing that hit me after coming back from the war, was how absolutely meaningless the vast majority of life’s required set of petty exercises are. I understand the elitism and the challenge of conquering Yale. There seems, however, to be a monumental difference between him and the rest; that is, 26 years of hardship, quiet observation, and directed action in shaping the world before reaching toward a philosophical…

The trouble with the term 'elitism' is that sometimes the best is only adequate, and for many people the best that society has to give is legitimately not enough. One lifetime of learning is not enough. Another one is in order.

"We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art."

- Henry James

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#57
post #44

The author either has a fundamental misunderstanding of the criticisms against "safe spaces" or he's deliberately mischaracterizing them to earn the favor of his classmates. > What she meant by “safe space” was that she was happy to be in an environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly, without the risk of disrespect or harsh judgement. If that's actually how safe spaces were implemented in practice,…

> * The primary criticism against safe spaces is that they are an excuse to censor dissenting opinions. A common example is that people opposed to sex-reassignment surgery are not allowed into discussions about transgenderism* What a strange example! What is the "dissenting opinion" about sex-reassignment surgery and transgenderism? Is it not for individuals to decided? Why would this even be an issue in the public s…

For myself I am not against the procedure. I am against allowing children to do so without the consent of their parent. We don't let children drink, drive, or hold employment until certain ages. Yet is is completely fine for them to have life altering changes done to their bodies at very young ages.

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A common example is that people opposed to sex-reassignment surgery are not allowed into discussions about trangenderism [sic!] because their opinions are considered "disrespectful" or even "violent" to transgender people. What does "being opposed to sex-reassignment surgery" even mean? I see two options: 1. Being opposed to others having the possibility of undergoing such a surgery. 2. Being opposed to undergoing…

> In the first case, I do believe it's disrespectful of the freedom to do with one's body as one pleases You aren’t allowed to harm yourself. You could argue that you should but under current laws we protect people from that, mostly. Also doctors have to perform these surgeries in which case their oath would mandate we are certain this procedure isn’t causing harm. And finally and perhaps most importantly. These surg…

> You aren’t allowed to harm yourself. You could argue that you should but under current laws we protect people from that, mostly.

There is a law against committing suicide, but there aren't any laws about harming yourself. If there were, sugar intake would be regulated and alcohol would be banned. You also don't get arrested if you intentionally cut yourself.

> their oath would mandate we are certain this procedure isn’t causing harm

That's not what the oath means, and you can see plenty examples of this in practice. Many procedures cause harm and the question is whether or not the harm caused by the procedure outweighs the harm done by not doing the surgery.

Re: A Navy Seal's Semester at Yale, at Age 52

#60

The author either has a fundamental misunderstanding of the criticisms against "safe spaces" or he's deliberately mischaracterizing them to earn the favor of his classmates. > What she meant by “safe space” was that she was happy to be in an environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly, without the risk of disrespect or harsh judgement. If that's actually how safe spaces were implemented in practice,…

The content and tone of the comments replying to you are making your point so hard right now. To me it really demonstrates how trigger-happy people are with certain concepts. If any opportunity presents itself, however tenuous it may be, to "own" someone on the other side, it MUST be taken! The gods of cortisol must be satisfied at all times.
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