Few people practice the Doctrine of Charity. Many seem to be actively looking for reasons to be triggered. Social justice warriorism is running amok. Welcome to 2020 and the death of discourse. //CLICK ON THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN!
Show Notes
Doctrine of Charity
* Phew has degree in Philosophy
* Wanted to limit his own income potential
* Granting other people the most favorable interpretation of whatever they say or write
Destroying Our Ability to Communicate
* What tends to happen: People jump to immediate and worst-possible conclusions
* It becomes functionally impossible to have a normal conversation
* Giving people the benefit of the doubt and interpreting whatever they said in the most positive for them manner
Why This is So Crucial
* So much of our discourse these days happens online and in written form
* Most people really are not that objective, even when they are trying to be
* Unc makes every effort to anticipate misinterpretation and fix it before publishing even a Facebook comment
A Lesson in High School
* Phew got a lesson on this in high school
* Op/ed in the PCEP newspaper about Black History Month
* Lack of tact on the part of the author
* "We should move beyond the idea of race being a factor in such things"
A Quote Completely Misunderstood
* "If they want a race war, they have it"
* That quote was misinterpreted completely; the author was referring to people who oppose treating all people equally, NOT to African Americans
* The student ended up having to leave the school
* Phew attended a very diverse high school (the largest high school campus in America, actually)
* There was zero application of the Doctrine of Charity in this situation
How Social Context Affects Everything
* Phew’s dad refers to homosexuals as “the gays”
* He means nothing bad by that
* He’s just tone deaf to such things
* Phew lives in a cutting edge context every day
* Lifestyle choice often dictates perspectives
* We should take into consideration the context from which a perspective is originating
* Northern Michigan vs inner city Chicago
Will Be Triggered for Food
* So many people are ACTIVELY LOOKING to be triggered and offended
* That is the exact opposite of the Doctrine of Charity
* What the world needs now, is the Doctrine of Charity
The Sad State of Public Discourse
* Has public discourse ever been worse than it is right now?
* There are people whose entire reason for living is looking to be triggered
* How far we’ve gotten away from civility
* Doctrine of Charity could save our culture
Jonathan Haidt
* Jonathan Haidt is a Professor of Psychology at NYU’s Stern School of Business
* The social value of being triggered and "call out culture”
* Gave a talk at UC Colorado Springs that everyone should watch
The Right to Be Wrong
* How did we get away from the idea that we have THE RIGHT TO BE WRONG
* In this culture, people have the legal right to have wrong opinions
* It’s better for a society when people can openly disagree with things
* When they can’t, they have to go underground with those thoughts, which is worse
Who Makes the Rules?
* Who makes the rules? Who decides?
* Either it’s free speech for everyone, all the time,
