Is the World Too Sensitive?

[Mac Attack]

Negative Sensitivity

We have all been bullied at least once in our lives. We all know what it's like to be picked on. All of us have had a personal introduction to a demon called discrimination and hate. We all have hurt, we all have grieved, however we also probably have made mountains out of molehills. Wrestlezone, I truly believe that our world is too sensitive to the injustices of humanity and I feel that this over-sensitivity is hurting our world. We focus too much on the negative and we consume ourselves with anger and hate, and lack empathy and forgiveness. We dream an altruistic world but we know that human inability will never allow perfection. Our illusion of utopia only amplifies that anger of discrimination and our focus on negativity drags down our society as a whole.

If you look at recent media and Symposium topics the majority of them deal with someone taking offense to something and the world chastising them to the highest regard. Some would say this is all just as we should punish those who hurt our preconceived notion of possible utopia. However when does punishment turn into wrongdoing and hate?

Recall the adage "an eye for an eye." Now compare it to "two wrongs don't make a right." The latter is the more utopian concept yet those who beg for world peace and equality don't stop at making people aware. They call people names such as "bigot, a bad person, uncouth, stupid, unwilling to adapt." You look at the comment section of articles for people who do something considered discriminatory and the majority of them are insensitive and quite frankly discriminatory in nature. Yes calling someone "stupid" or "******ed" is discrimination against those with mental diseases. You call them out on it you get the response of "well what they said is way worse." People are too sensitive to "problems" and will harbor on the negativity and not someone begging forgiveness.

I think a lot of this has to due with an abundance of political awareness, but I think sometimes this can be taken way too far. How correct must we be. Pretty soon instead of humans will be homo-sapiens

If you preach altruism yet chastise someone for racism or bigotry and by chastise I quite frankly mean insult are you any better. The statement "well I was offended first and worse" just shows that people are too sensitive to problems and create the need for revenge.

Questions for this portion


Are We too sensitive?

Are we too politically correct for our own good

Sensitivity to Change

My next thread I have intended for the Symposium is "Is Equality Good For The World." And spoiler alert my answer is no. I'm going to reveal my cards right now and tell you that I also feel the world is too sensitive to change.

Today the world becomes consumed with the next big advocacy group. People wanting to become more liberal and open and explore untraditional concepts. This is all good and well and I only ever want the personal best for people, but I think sometimes people are too over zealous to jump on these bandwagons. There's a reason why traditions are made and it's because they are typically thought of as good for the community and well thought out.

Now a days it seems ever different month we have a different advocacy group looking to make a statement and every month we have people jumping on the "do you support________ group?" I get people want more rights, respect, freedoms, but often times I feel there are people who don't fully understand what they're getting into and when you try to discuss it with them they're actually clueless about the subject. I respect those who want to better themselves and if they can do it without being whiny bitches then all the better. I don't people who jump on the support bandwagon just for the sake of being apart of something.

This is where I say people are too sensitive towards people who want to make change. Clueless people come up far to often who don't understand what they're talking about but will fully insult those who don't agree.

Now the questions I ask you for this is Am I totally wrong or is this true in every day life a well?

 

[H33LTurn]

”I don’t know when we turned into a nation of 3-year-old babies. Everything offends everybody.” -Larry the cable guy

Its unfortunate when our entire society can be summed up in a synopsis by Larry the Cable Guy. This is what we have become, however, where advocacy groups that have been given the hand now want the whole arm. These kinds of people, who preach some illogical idealistic change in our society, also tend to almost always belong to the left of the political spectrum. Leftists, or liberals, claim to be the most tolerant bunch out there, but are usually ready to cut someone's head off. Their causes, many of them not as serious as they make them out to be, can and have had extremely negative consequences on our society. Take for example gay marriage, and how a movement that was supposed to be inherently good turned into a campaign against all religions and religious people. Religious groups are incredibly antagonized, regardless of their transgressions, by people who once again claim to be tolerant and respectful. Religion has had a major impact on our society, for better or worse. Speaking of religion doing good for people, has anyone forgotten, Martin Luther King, the Baptist Minister that achieved equal rights for racial minorities? Oh no wait, thats impossible, because all religious people are evil, according to the left. Speaking of racial issues, its funny how the left claims to see beyond race, yet many of them were calling for Zimmerman's death after he was acquitted of the murder charge against him, which was evidently self defense, because Zimmerman was the evil white racist guy except for the fact that he is hispanic and tutors black kids on his spare time. How about feminism? Telling men that women want sweet sensitive men, and then rejecting them for being sweet and sensitive. Denying boys to grow up aware of the dominant masculine role they are biologically hardwired to play in our society (see: alpha male).

The hypocrisy of these advocacy groups is what pisses me off. They claim to respect others' freedom of choice, unless it conflicts with their ideology.

These groups are not ruled by logic and common sense, they're ruled by emotion and fanaticism, a very dangerous combination.

 

[Davi323]

Yes, we are too sensitive. People get butt hurt over anything now. I was taught as a child to learn from adversity, to deal with things I didn't like or agree with. I knew even as a child that there would be people who simply wouldn't agree with things I believed, and that I would have to deal with that. Not whine about it, not bitch about it, but deal with it. I am not going to make just about politics, I think the issue of being too sensitive or not is really a much larger idea. People are over sensitive in lots of aspects of life. LeSean McCoy can't trust Riley Cooper anymore because of one word? Bullshit. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I am sure there are things McCoy has said that were really stupid before...there are things we all have said that would piss off someone else. Paula Deen says it once, immediately after being robbed by a black guy, and gets a shit storm of bad press 30 fucking years later? Ridiculous. People get called all kinds of names all the damn time, for a lot of reasons. How you react goes a long way in showing your character. Do you act like a man, or act like a baby and bitch about it? Maybe I am just a little more old school, but I wasn't raised to whine about it, I was raised to deal with it. I hate the victimization of everyone that is going on. Everyone gets shit on, it isn't just you. People need to stop being so fucking dramatic about it.

Not everyone is going to agree with you.
Not everyone is going to like you.
Not everyone is going to give a damn that they disagree with you or don't like you.

DEAL WITH IT.

 

[Gelgarin]

No.

The problem is not political correctness. The problem is mean, unpleasant bullies using political correctness as some kind of all purpose shield whenever someone calls them out over being a mean, unpleasant bully.

If you make a bunch of horrible degrading comments about women then you're a sexist jackass. But if someone calls you out over it then just accuse them of being politically correct and all of a sudden they're the bad guy and you're a mighty warrior in defense of the sacred institution of free speech.

There are very, very rare occasions where the principle of political correctness get taken too far (usually my well intentioned members of local government), and these are typically repeated anecdotally over and over again as people try to pretend that they are fighting against some problem that does not in fact exist. In the real world, 90% of what gets rallied against as political correctness is in actual fact just being nice to people - and the people who rally against it are doing so on the grounds that they don't think that particular groups of people are deserving of their niceness. A person who is politically correct goes out of their way to be kind and accommodating to people who don't share his or her world view, whilst the person who cowers behind the pretense of "political correctness gone mad" is someone who demands that every other person should think as they do, and that those who don't are undeserving of basic kindness.

I don't call black people ******s because I know that doing so is going to upset or offend people - and I'm a decent human being who doesn't go out of his way to upset or offend people for no reason. It doesn't matter if I don't personally find the term offensive or even if I don't think other people should find it offensive - the point is that other people do.

Hiding behind the political correctness shield is basically a way of saying "I shouldn't have to care about other people's feelings when I talk".

If you regularly make comments that you know are going to offend people in an environment where people are likely to get offended then you are not politically incorrect, you are not a champion of free speech, you are not crusading against an oppressive social agenda or whatever else you use to try and justify your own behavior.

You're just a jerk who doesn't want to admit that he's a jerk.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

No. There are people that are too sensitive at times. Take for example people who can't handle others having and expressing their values so they end up making inane statements about "the world" being "too sensitive". It's stupid and lazy thinking.

We are not too sensitive, we are humans and if anything we are too selfish. How many homeless people have I walked by over the past year and not helped? What kind of species are we that we sit around watching TV or waxing philosophic on the internet about what we thing we know about "society"?

If you want to talk about individual examples sure there is some place for pointing about too much sensitivity but as a whole this question is pointless to ask.

 

[LSN80]

We focus too much on the negative and we consume ourselves with anger and hate, and lack empathy and forgiveness. We dream an altruistic world but we know that human inability will never allow perfection. Our illusion of utopia only amplifies that anger of discrimination and our focus on negativity drags down our society as a whole.

I'm not sure about you, Macios, but I've never met anyone in my life who has the 'illusion of utopia', or a perfect world. Do people want for equality? Absolutely, as they should. I've seen people with distorted ways of thinking, for sure, but to this day, I've yet to meet anyone who's deceived themselves so much that they believe if they push hard enough, they'll achieve their own personal 'utopia.'

We focus too much on the negative. We consume ourselves with anger and hate, and lack empathy and forgiveness.

So the people who have problems with discrimination, and speak up about it, are the ones who lack empathy and forgiveness? We could all, as people, learn to forgive more, certainly. But I've yet to read a thread here where someone has spoken their opinion regarding a topic, and have it cross over to anger and hate.

If this is something you're referring to in the real world, that's a different story. But with regards to the topics presented here, both by myself and others, I've seen very little over-sensitivity and essentially no anger or hate.

Yes calling someone "stupid" or "******ed" is discrimination against those with mental diseases. You call them out on it you get the response of "well what they said is way worse." People are too sensitive to "problems" and will harbor on the negativity and not someone begging forgiveness.

Honestly, I'm still not sure where you're going with this. Being stupid, or "lacking intelligence", is not a mental disease. But the bigger problem here is far more simple: You're asking people to stop the very same thing that
you're doing, which is being critical of others.

Further, it's not discrimination to call someone "uncouth", a "bad person", or even "stupid" and "******ed." Discrimination is the 'act of treating someone differently for reasons other then their own personal merit.' Simply calling someone a name, or describing them in a certain way, is not discrimination.

Are We too sensitive?

Nope. We're human beings with opinions, some of them stronger then others in different areas. There are those who try incredibly hard to get others to come around to their point of view, and there are those who work very hard in opposition to that, or another, point of view. Those people are off-putting, certainly, but consider an issue you're passionate about. Then consider how you feel/react when people oppose you or that issue because they don't understand it.

My next thread I have intended for the Symposium is "Is Equality Good For The World." And spoiler alert my answer is no.

Why exactly is equality bad for the world? The way I see it is simple, as there are essentially two types of equality:

1. Equality in the way people are treated.
2. Equality in what people receive/get in this world.

Equality in the area of #1 is a good thing for the world. If you disagree or take issue with someone because they believe or behave differently from you, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be afforded the same rights that you are. In this sense, a lack of equality is bad for the world.

Area #2, however, is the case of where equality is bad for the world. The fact of the matter is that some people work harder, go to school longer, and are simply more intelligent or gifted then others. To expect equality in pay, food, clothing and shelter would be a bad thing, because every person is different in these areas. In this sense, you make your own way, and hopefully, get what you deserve. Anything else borders on the communistic belief of a classless, moneyless, and stateless social order.

People wanting to become more liberal and open and explore untraditional concepts.

What exactly do you consider untraditional concepts? Something like this, which you alluded to in another thread?

Personally, I feel like athletes (at the Olympics) shouldn't be allowed to express this particular attribute of their lives. Sure it is "bringing awareness to discrimination" however an African American athlete won't wear a black ribbon, a Chinese a yellow ribbon, an illiterate person a book themed ribbon.

You were referring to, in fact, people wearing rainbow flags in the Olympic games to show gay pride. The difference between this and you other examples is that it's a hot-button issue, where discrimination does exist. And for some, I'm certain, it has nothing to do with bringing awareness to an issue, but rather, being proud in who they are.

People wearing 'book themed ribbons' is not the same thing. And if homosexual athletes shouldn't be able to express this "attribute" of themselves, why should straight people be able to hold hands or kiss one another? Is this an example of an 'untraditional concept', and if not, what is?

Sometimes, tradition is a bad thing. It used to be tradition for blacks to ride in the back of the bus and use different bathrooms them the white folk. Did that make it right, simply because it was tradition? Further, if people hadn't rebelled and "made a big deal of" said tradition, we may even be in the same place today. Advocacy groups are there for a reason, which is to advocate for those who have less rights then the rest of us.

This is all good and well and I only ever want the personal best for people, but I think sometimes people are too over zealous to jump on these bandwagons. There's a reason why traditions are made and it's because they are typically thought of as good for the community and well thought out.

See my example above as to however "thought out" a tradition may be, it doesn't make it good for the community in any way, shape or form.

I get people want more rights, respect, freedoms, but often times I feel there are people who don't fully understand what they're getting into and when you try to discuss it with them they're actually clueless about the subject. I respect those who want to better themselves and if they can do it without being whiny bitches then all the better. I don't people who jump on the support bandwagon just for the sake of being apart of something.

The generalization and even attitude expressed here is that people who advocate for change are "whiny b*tches". Advocating and pressing forward through an issue, no matter how much it may annoy you, is how things get accomplished. It's how segregation has ended to a great deal in this country. It's how we have same-sex marriages now allowed. Fighting for those issues has nothing to do with bettering oneself, rather, it's about bettering the world as a whole.

Generally, people who join advocacy groups and the like may only know the surface issues when they join, and agree with that. How they learn more is by being apart of it. It's the people who oppose those who advocate for a better life for those with less rights that bother me.

Am I totally wrong or is this true in every day life a well?

Yes. The generalizations towards people seems to imply that if they think or feel different from you or I, that automatically makes them wrong some how. To bring about change in the world, sensitivity and support are needed for and towards certain issues. And if people are fighting for equality in treatment, you can consider them 'whiny b*tches' all you like, it simply shows a staggering lack of the empathy to do so.

Rather, look at these people whose opinion you differ with as an example to show your own tolerance, regardless of your perception of how they treat you. Or their over-sensitivity, if you will.

 

[Con T.]

If you preach altruism yet chastise someone for racism or bigotry and by chastise I quite frankly mean insult are you any better.

Of course you are.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm an absolute dick to bigots, misogynists, and pretty much anyone guilty of cunt like behavior. And there's a reason why; if you aren't going to give other people the decency and respect you demand, I'm not going to give it to you.

Why should I? What have you done to deserve it, save for being a cunt?

Granted, Gelgarin has a point; maybe in doing so, you become this grand white knight, which doesn't make you so grand at all. But I'd rather be a thu art holier than thou white knight, than a bigoted daft asshole.

 

[Gelgarin]

Let me me clear, I am a massive cunt to anyone I even suspect of being a closet bigot. But when they get offended by my words it's not because they're over sensitive or because of the invasion of political correctness into society - it's because I'm being a dick to them.

As a species we naturally offend and get offended - both of these things are perfectly natural. The anti-political correctness campaign look to change this - they want to take away the right of others to appear offended, because they value their right to pointlessly offend others as being more important.

If I offend somebody then I do it for what I perceive as a valid reason. If I inadvertently offend somebody then I apologize and modulate my behavior, even if I don't consider my words to be particularly offence. This is because, whilst I may be an abrasive personality, I'm not a complete piece of shit.