When do you correct someone’s spelling in social media, or on a blog or bulletin board? Generally speaking, I’d say don’t do it. But what if a young woman posts for the first time on a public forum and asks everyone to “bare with her”?
I wish Bigfoot was real
Experts analyze new Bigfoot footage
There are lots of reasons not to believe in Bigfoot.
- There are no apes in the new world, so there’s no reasonable evolutionary path for a creature like that to exist in North America. (I suppose it could have migrated, like we did.)
- Bigfoot stories follow all the same patterns of other silly stories. Bad evidence (grainy photos, etc.). Conspiracies. Credulous people.
- It’s hard to believe no one has shot one yet. A body would go a long way towards proving their existence.
If the story cited above is credible, now they’re claiming to have DNA. That would be a bg thing!
They say it’s a “human hybrid.” Hybrid of humans and what?
I don’t believe in Bigfoot, but it would be great if they were real, for lots of reasons. It would help us understand ourselves better if we could find an animal closely related to humans. But more importantly, while I agree with the skeptics about many things, they’re kinda jerks, and it would be nice for them to have egg on their face.
Elon, you can’t solve the free speech problem
There is thread on Twitter where some speaker went to confront a female protester and touched her on the arm. J.K. Rowling observed that he probably wouldn’t have done that if the protester was a man — that we respect men’s personal space more than women’s.
It’s a fair observation. Men are probably more likely to touch women than to touch men, because (at least in part) the consequence of touching a man has a higher likelihood of ending in violence.
I considered asking Rowling (not that she would reply) whether she expects all rules to apply equally to men and to women — which, I maintain, is a ridiculous thing to expect.
But to ask such a thing is to open oneself up to the attacks of the hysterical, illogical, screaming mob. There’s no discussion. It’s not a “town square” — unless you mean a “town square” full of opposing mobs with torches, tar, and pitchforks.
Twitter can proscribe certain words, ban people who go too far, etc., but it does almost nothing to address the underlying problem, which is that a large part of the population has no respect for civil disagreement.
That attitude has to be learned with peas and carrots. If it’s not drilled into people’s heads when they are children, and throughout their early life, no amount of moderation, banning, rules about words and so forth is going to solve the problem.
Like so many other societal ills, this is a problem that was a long time in the making, that can only be solved with decades of work.
Listening to a live stream about the alleged coup in Russia
This is amazing. It sounds (at posting time) that Wagner’s forces are closing in on Moscow, and some may be there already. Reports are that elements of Russia’s military forces are joining the coup.
Others are saying it’s all theater, and Moscow can easily turn away Wagner’s forces.
Scary stuff.
Is “cis” a slur?
You may have heard that Twitter now considers “cis” and “cisgender” to be slurs.
I asked ChatGPT what makes a word a slur. Here’s what it said.
A slur is a derogatory or offensive term used to demean or insult a particular individual or group of people based on their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other characteristics. Slurs are typically intended to belittle, dehumanize, or marginalize the targeted group.
Several factors contribute to a word being considered a slur:
1. Derogatory Intent: Slurs are intentionally used to demean or disparage individuals or communities. The primary purpose of a slur is to insult or offend.
2. Historical Context: Many slurs have a long history of being used to oppress or discriminate against marginalized communities. The historical use and association of a word with discrimination or violence contribute to its classification as a slur.
3. Impact and Offensiveness: Slurs often evoke strong negative emotions and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. They can be deeply hurtful and dehumanizing to those targeted by them, causing psychological and emotional harm.
4. Societal Consensus: The classification of a word as a slur can also depend on societal consensus. The general perception of a term within a community or society, especially among the affected group, plays a significant role in determining whether it is considered a slur.
It is important to note that slurs can vary across cultures, contexts, and time periods. What may be considered a slur in one culture or era might not have the same connotation in another. Additionally, the impact and offensiveness of slurs can evolve over time as societies progress and language norms change.
That seems mostly reasonable, although it misses a key component, namely, what do the people the word is used to describe think of it?
Is “cis” used with derogatory intent? I’m not sure, but I think it’s at least slightly derogatory.
It has no historical context because all this “gender” foolishness started 10 minutes ago.
Is it offensive? I don’t know. Slightly, maybe.
Is there a consensus? How could there be? If you disagree with the trans narrative you get social media murdered.
Here’s what J.K. Rowling has to say about the words, although she doesn’t address if they are “slurs.”
