Ceteris Parebus

The Rhetorical Power of WAAAAAAAH!!

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When we imbue every perceived offense with such incredible rhetorical value, it should come as no surprise when it becomes the universal currency of debate.

It's amazing. Even the most mundane thing becomes a source of high dudgeon. Put some fortune cookies in ice cream, and witness the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Burn some books, and watch people lose their minds and go on shooting rampages.

Are people really this sensitive? Or are they merely exploiting a bubble market in some overvalued asset? Or do they recognize it for what it is, that people who are fearful of causing offense are quivering cowards who can easily brought to their knees by some feigned display of tearful outrage

I was having a lunch debate with some workmates, and from one topic to another, it always came down to the idea that the moral authority of some offended soul is absolute, and that everyone else should bend every which way to avoid causing them any emotional upset. How do you even argue against that? I tried telling them that that then creates an incentive for everyone to overstate and exaggerate their emotional response. But they would hear nothing of it, and it, like EVERY OTHER debate about anything else, it eventually came back to the Black Man in a Restaurant Fallacy.

Well, there you go. That always wins.
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  1. Mestral's Avatar
    Are people really this sensitive? Or are they merely exploiting a bubble market in some overvalued asset? Or do they recognize it for what it is, that people who are fearful of causing offense are quivering cowards who can easily brought to their knees by some feigned display of tearful outrage
    You nailed it here.
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