Coddling the American Mind: The Rise of Microagression & Emotional Terrorism...

[BaiHu]

This is a great article and something I've pushed against in my teaching for at least the last 10 years. It's despicable and castrating to the human race to live this way.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...n-mind/399356/

...Until recently, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights acknowledged that speech must be “objectively offensive” before it could be deemed actionable as sexual harassment—it would have to pass the “reasonable person” test. To be prohibited, the office wrote in 2003, allegedly harassing speech would have to go “beyond the mere expression of views, words, symbols or thoughts that some person finds offensive.”

But in 2013, the Departments of Justice and Education greatly broadened the definition of sexual harassment to include verbal conduct that is simply “unwelcome.” Out of fear of federal investigations, universities are now applying that standard—defining unwelcome speech as harassment—not just to sex, but to race, religion, and veteran status as well. Everyone is supposed to rely upon his or her own subjective feelings to decide whether a comment by a professor or a fellow student is unwelcome, and therefore grounds for a harassment claim. Emotional reasoning is now accepted as evidence.

If our universities are teaching students that their emotions can be used effectively as weapons—or at least as evidence in administrative proceedings—then they are teaching students to nurture a kind of hypersensitivity that will lead them into countless drawn-out conflicts in college and beyond. Schools may be training students in thinking styles that will damage their careers and friendships, along with their mental health.

[TCinVA]

Nobody seems to be in a hurry to create a "safe space" for students who believe in literal Biblical creation.

Or students who may deeply believe that homosexual marriage is wrong.

So it's not really about student psyche and emotional well being, is it.

[BaiHu]

Nobody seems to be in a hurry to create a "safe space" for students who believe in literal Biblical creation.

Or students who may deeply believe that homosexual marriage is wrong.

So it's not really about student psyche and emotional well being, is it.

Those people you mention just aren't sensitive enough, so they obviously don't have the same emotional hardware as the other LCD folk who fear the microagressing of your words. Shame on you TC [emoji41]

[NickA]

Related podcast, with two guys who wrote a paper about the victimhood culture. Basically they're taking the direct response to perceived insults (honor culture) and combining it with remaining unaffected and letting the authorities address it (dignity culture), by playing the victim and forcing a response from third parties to address it. That may be actual authorities (police, administrators, etc) or public pressure (the media, internet mobs). Interesting stuff, and completely mind-boggling to me.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/1...mhood-culture/

[SAWBONES]

Nobody seems to be in a hurry to create a "safe space" for students who believe in literal Biblical creation.

Or students who may deeply believe that homosexual marriage is wrong.

So it's not really about student psyche and emotional well being, is it.

You're right, it's always according to whatever the prevailing modern "feminized" wimp (there, that was a microaggressive description!) mindset determines to be politically correct. "Traditional" ideas and values are largely outside that framework.

[NickA]

In the podcast I linked to they mentioned that even "politically correct" is considered a microaggression in some circles now :-)

[cclaxton]

When I was in Middle School and High School I was involved in the debate club. One of the topics was very emotional and controversial: Should the US be engaged in the war in Southeast Asia? (The Vietnam War). I had to learn to effectively debate both sides of the issue, and I had to learn to control my emotions so that I could be a better debater. The issue with many college students these days is they are not taught the fundamentals of analytics, logic, making an effective argument, providing supporting documentation and facts, and being impartial. I still think this problem goes back to High School, where those subjects are not required or taught. High Schools need to be more like boot camps than luxury resorts away from parents.
Cody

[ssb]

Where this has brought us:

Watching footage of that meeting [context: a meeting b/t students and Christakis, a residence hall master, regarding complaints over an e-mail that his wife sent out questioning why Yale was -- as a matter of policy -- "recommending" how kids should dress for Halloween], a fundamental disagreement is revealed between professor and undergrads. Christakis believes that he has an obligation to listen to the views of the students, to reflect upon them, and to either respond that he is persuaded or to articulate why he has a different view. Put another way, he believes that one respects students by engaging them in earnest dialogue. But many of the students believe that his responsibility is to hear their demands for an apology and to issue it. They see anything short of a confession of wrongdoing as unacceptable. In their view, one respects students by validating their subjective feelings.

Notice that the student position allows no room for civil disagreement.

Given this set of assumptions, perhaps it is no surprise that the students behave like bullies even as they see themselves as victims. This is most vividly illustrated in a video clip that begins with one student saying, “Walk away, he doesn’t deserve to be listened to.”

...

According to The Washington Post, “several students in Silliman said they cannot bear to live in the college anymore.” These are young people who live in safe, heated buildings with two Steinway grand pianos, an indoor basketball court, a courtyard with hammocks and picnic tables, a computer lab, a dance studio, a gym, a movie theater, a film-editing lab, billiard tables, an art gallery, and four music practice rooms. But they can’t bear this setting that millions of people would risk their lives to inhabit because one woman wrote an email that hurt their feelings?

Another Silliman resident declared in a campus publication, “I have had to watch my friends defend their right to this institution. This email and the subsequent reaction to it have interrupted their lives. I have friends who are not going to class, who are not doing their homework, who are losing sleep, who are skipping meals, and who are having breakdowns.” One feels for these students. But if an email about Halloween costumes has them skipping class and suffering breakdowns, either they need help from mental-health professionals or they’ve been grievously ill-served by debilitating ideological notions they’ve acquired about what ought to cause them pain.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...t-yale/414810/

At the very least, there's debate to be had in these areas. Ideally, pro-choice students would be comfortable enough in the strength of their arguments to subject them to discussion, and a conversation about a band's supposed cultural appropriation could take place alongside a performance. But these cancellations and disinvitations are framed in terms of feelings, not issues. The abortion debate was canceled because it would have imperiled the "welfare and safety of our students." The Afrofunk band's presence would not have been "safe and healthy." No one can rebut feelings, and so the only thing left to do is shut down the things that cause distress — no argument, no discussion, just hit the mute button and pretend eliminating discomfort is the same as effecting actual change.

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/3/8706323/...ofessor-afraid

I am overjoyed I got out of undergrad before this mess got serious legs at my alma mater. Even people who graduated a year or two after me are coming out thoroughly indoctrinated. What's particularly telling is when some of my old professors -- to include perhaps the most liberal, social justice-y one I encountered -- are starting to say "hey, wait a minute." It's difficult to not remind them that they made their bed.

That people are graduating and entering the workforce holding the belief that intellectual disagreements with a threat to personal safety (as seen in everything from dis-invited graduation speakers to Yale's recent shit-fit over Halloween costumes) is... well, frightening.

[ssb]

When I was in Middle School and High School I was involved in the debate club. One of the topics was very emotional and controversial: Should the US be engaged in the war in Southeast Asia? (The Vietnam War). I had to learn to effectively debate both sides of the issue, and I had to learn to control my emotions so that I could be a better debater. The issue with many college students these days is they are not taught the fundamentals of analytics, logic, making an effective argument, providing supporting documentation and facts, and being impartial. I still think this problem goes back to High School, where those subjects are not required or taught. High Schools need to be more like boot camps than luxury resorts away from parents.
Cody

Unless things have changed significantly since I graduated in 2013, yes we are. Pretty much every social science class ran us through the basics of that, and we're generally required to take a public speaking course which includes some sort of argumentation component.

It's not that we weren't taught that. It's that certain ideologies teach us that it's acceptable to disregard all of those things depending on the issue. That's entirely the fault of the professors who are effectively indoctrinating kids with this modern social justice mindset.

[Kukuforguns]

The same language is s being used by the student activists at Mizzou. They wanted administrators to listen AND validate their concerns. When the administration failed to validate their concerns they started their demonstrations. I've been hearing this develop for years, but it's still nearly incomprehensible. I know there are normal, well-balanced students in the mix, but the twits demand and get lots of attention.

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