scourge99

When did I say I was going to FORCE a decision upon anyone?? We all make decisions on our own. All I'm doing is presenting the argument that certain words are NOT "bad" in and of themselves. Thus, taking offense to certain words is irrational because the emotional response is misguided.

People have emotions and thats not going to change. However, we shouldn't cater to people with misguided emotional responses. Such is true with the condemnation of certain words.

O, is that so? Then explain what it is if it isn't a knee-jerk emotional response that causes people to take offense because I believed I've covered all the possible alternatives.

When people such a Kali take offense to the word "retard" there is a reason. They have had an experience that causes that word to feel offensive. However, I haven't gone around calling Kali's nephew a "retard". I'm simply saying that if I use the word "retard" in a context unrelated to Kali's nephew or to Kali himself he shouldn't give a flying ****. The word might remind him of his nephews struggle but the word isn't directed at him or his nephew in ANY way. It becomes irrational when people take offense to the word even though the word's use has NOTHING to do with them. Ideally, if Kali requests I not use the word because it offends him then I should avoid using it around him because he has expressed a clear dislike for the word.

In conclusion, if you don't like certain words then don't use them. If you don't want people to use certain words because it offends you then let them know. But lets clear up this bandwagon bull**** about being politically correct for fear of offending someone, somewhere. Words cannot offend you. Only a person can offend you.

The irrational part is the inability to understand the fact that WORDS MEAN NOTHING WITHOUT CONTEXT. Taking offense to a word without context is illogical. This idea has been grained into peoples heads that certain words are "bad". However, as I have explained MANY MANY times this belief is a non-sequitor.

Lightdemon

Bolded above are all opinions. You are saying people should behave in the way you just described. Are you not forcing YOUR decision on anyone when you say that? They are YOUR opinions. Which is totally fine, but like I said, you can't make decisions for somebody else.

There are people who care about people who are not thier family. Why do you think that Kali is offended merely by the association with his nephew? Why can it not be that because Kali has this nephew, that helps him sympathize with other people that are outside of his own family? Is that not possible? Is there nobody in the world who care about other people other than thier own family?

Like I said, you are failing to see from the other person's point of view. Why are you restricting your view of Kali? How well do you know him? Can you really make these judgement calls on him? Just because he told you about his nephew, that allows you to make such a detailed analyses of his "irrational" behavior?

Again, your perception did not reach far enough.

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"My trade is to say what I think" - Voltaire

scourge99

We are discussing human social interactions. I cannot ENFORCE how people interact with each other; I can only SUGGEST through a logical progression. I am challenging the currently widespread preconceived notion that certain "bad" words should never be used.

And why is this sympathy focused on the use of the word "retard"? I'm not following how sympathy for other people somehow involves the condemnation of certain words. If you do understand then please explain.

Considering Kali has not given his reasoning we can't make any judgments. This fact doesn't help your argument anymore than it helps mine.

Simply suggesting that I'm "failing to see from the other person's point of view" means nothing until you elaborate on the particular view that contradicts my position. I have seen no contradictory view as of yet.

Lightdemon

That's fine. But at the same time, you need to understand that people who advocate the opposite of your opinion are not merely "irrational," but rather they just have different motives.

For instance, take the word "gay." Do you have kids? Teenagers? When ever they lose in a video game, they'll say, "aww man, that was gay." How many different versions of "that was gay" or "you are gay" are there do you think? How many times do you think they say it per day? How many use it in a positive way?

Or how about when something doesn't make sense to you because of redundancy? Or when you do something stupid? I'm sure you've heard people say "that's retarded" or "you're retarded" etc. How many times can you use retarded in a positive way?

I'm not saying that you're wrong, but people do not share your view, and that doesn't make them irrational. The above examples I provided are rationale for people who advocate that certain words shouldn't be used because it enforces a certain attitude towards that word.

See above.

That's exactly my point. Kali has NOT given his reasoning. Which is why I am questioning your assertion that he is irrational. It helps my side of the argument because I have not limited his reasoning. I expanded on the different perceptions one could have based on his omission. You restricted it.

See above.

scourge99

Really? Misnomers are really that bad?? If I call something "gay" does it enforces the belief that homosexuals are bad? I suppose when I say "that sucks" I'm enforcing the belief that people that give blowjobs are bad or something of that nature.

I can understand why people might think that misnomers are bad but logically its a non-sequitor. Perhaps, misnomers are effective propaganda for the irrational.

Lightdemon

Bolded above is another illustration of your stubborn refusal to see things from the other side. You obviously don't see it as bad, but other people do.

You've misunderstood my post. The two above examples that I gave are not misnomers. The following are examples of misnomers:

Greenland, though the land isn't green.
Lead from pencils are actually made from graphite.
In a classroom, the blackboard, isn't always black.
Making love all night long...yea, you get the picture.



The examples that I provided are uses of the two words in the cultural sense. It is because we use those two words in the negative sense, to describe negative events, that encorces a certain negative attitude toward using that word.

Now, I don't want you to be confused here. I'm not trying to force you to accept that what I said is true. It may as well be false. But hell, it's all opinion anyhow. I don't want to change your opinion on word usage, since I probably couldn't care less what your opinion is.

But you labeling a person irrational because you cannot see from thier point of view is retarded.

Have a very gay day.

scourge99

No, you are confusing "bad" with "offended". Obviously people are offended. I am critiquing whether their offense is rational. If people are offended by irrational reasoning I consider that "bad". Wouldn't you?

You're right. Misnomer doesn't fit what we are describing. Whats a better definition? Sayings? Colloquialism? Idioms? Slang? Theres probably one from every category I've mentioned.

Slang (I think thats a pretty good definition for it) encourages a negative attitude no more than a painting on a wall. Perhaps you believe in subliminal messages and subtle mind control but barring these outrageous things simple use of a slang is far from encouraging anything.

Perhaps you could explain or use an example to support your opinion that slang encourages a negative attitude?

Lightdemon

It's offensive because people percieve them as bad isn't it? But anyway...

How would you know that it is irrational unless you can understand the other person's view? At which point, you may not be so inclined to judge it as irrational?

I'm not so sure slang is a good descriptor. Also, I have a feeling that what I'm referring to is known as word associations.

I don't know about "subliminal messages" or "mind control" but there are psychological studies done on word associations. A classical example of a word association is a psychotherapist asking his client, "What does the word father mean to you?"

But perhaps you're not so well versed in psychology as I am. If you would prefer more of a hands on approach to understanding more of this concept, play the game.

word association

Word Association - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



If you wish to learn more about the psychological processes regarding word association, I'd start with classical conditioning (Pavlov). If that's not enough, you may want to take a look at Skinner and Behaviorism, and maybe cognitive psychology too.

Should you desire furthering your education on word associations, google "halo effect" and "horns effect."

Sergeant Stinger1

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I guess the answer is that we have been letting the 'RETARD OF ALL RETARDS' *** *** ***GW BUSH*** *** speak so all others should also be allowed to speak.

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I guess bush and the Repukes won cause Americans are totaly SCREWED!!!

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AMERICAN ARMED FORCES, THE BEST IN THE WORLD

Sergeant Stinger1

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I guess the answer is that we have been letting the 'RETARD OF ALL RETARDS' *** *** ***GW BUSH*** *** speak so all others should also be allowed to speak.