tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post6282438431048752666..comments2024-02-05T05:15:04.759-08:00Comments on Wandering Scientist: Weekend Reading: The Hodgepodge EditionCloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-87859595380391969332012-10-21T08:21:40.180-07:002012-10-21T08:21:40.180-07:00Thanks for the links to articles on issues particu...Thanks for the links to articles on issues particularly important to women in this election. Thanks for sifting through, and sharing, articles you've "tripped over". You make it easy for information to be shared/forwarded. Lynnehttp://www.life-after-loss.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-74085795558250672952012-10-21T06:29:24.876-07:002012-10-21T06:29:24.876-07:00Thanks for the link to the Guardian article! It ca...Thanks for the link to the Guardian article! It captures well what I have grown to hate about the academic blogosphere, and it seems like there is political-correctness or the-right-way-to-be-progressive police in all sorts of online communities (the feminist one you mentioned comes to mind, I would never dare engage there, it seems very hostile).<br /><br />Someone writes something that is a bit off, and there comes the pile-on and public shaming. When the writer complains that the perceived effect was not their intention, there is the chorus "It doesn't matter what you intended (or what your background or context may be) it matters how we perceive it came out!!! And this is a teachable moment!!! WAAAAAH!"<br /><br />This is ridiculous. With me, the only effect it has is that it makes me stop writing about certain topics because I can't afford the emotional upheaval (and the associated drop in productivity at work and home) that these little kerfuffles inflict on me. <br /><br />Even with little children, when they do something bad on purpose (e.g. hit a sibling) they will be punished, but if it wasn't intentional then they may not. To make a dramatic comparison, premeditated murder is punished differently than manslaughter. But intent and context are not important in online discourse, only the outcome? Puhleez.<br /><br />People say insensitive things all the time, and very often because they have no clue they are being insensitive. Often it's the perfectly well-meaning reasonable people, and they are more likely to take your point into account if you bring it up calmly. Maybe something like "Hey, what you wrote here is not OK. It hurts [me, the likes of me, or some specific group of people] because such and such. I trust you are a decent human being and sensitive to this issue, but as an FYI this sounded really bad and make sure you don't use it again." Something like that. <br /><br />But it never plays out like that. As the Guardian article says, people in online communication should first have compassion and tolerance, and it tends to be sorely lacking in many (most?) communities that I frequent. This has resulted in me drastically reducing commenting overall to only those blogs where the discourse is civilized (btw, calling for civilized discourse will also get you laughed at on many scientific blogosphere sites). Coming to think of it, I could count on one hand the number of blogs I comment on any more... I don't know if the fact I don't comment is detrimental to the many blogs I avoid, but I am guessing there are many many people who feel like me and don't engage, and overall that effect on the quality of discourse may not be negligible...<br />GMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17872461021953583473noreply@blogger.com