Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Dogmantra wrote (edited )

Reply to comment by twovests in "you can't use the r-slur, by twovests

I made a specific decision several years back to cut out "stupid", "idiot", "moron", etc from my vocabulary and honestly even if we set aside any ethical considerations I think it's forced me to either:

  • be nicer because the only thing I had to say was one of those words
  • articulate what was actually wrong with the thing that the person did or said

Both of these options generally lead to a better world, imo. I would recommend this to anyone, even if they don't agree that it's not great morally to call people stupid.

5

cute_spider_turtle_emoji wrote

Same and full agree.

It helps keep me humble, and forces me to remember that I'm narrowly smart. I struggle to understand finance and medical insurance, so I can believe that other people struggle to understand computers

4

flabberghaster wrote

I cut it out periodically and then backslide. They're very useful terms, is the thing. I know the thing is you're supposed to criticize what specifically you're criticizing instead of just saying it's "stupid" or "crazy" but it's just more descriptive in a lot of cases to say "they're acting crazy" than "their actions are nonsensical" because those are a bit different in what they actually mean. I don't really want to debate this though.

But that being said, I do try to limit my use of those words most of the time, and then i get lazy.

4

twovests OP wrote

I do think this is better and good yeah. I think it's also compatible with dismissing people like RFK Jr with contempt for being so regularly incorrect and harmful

3