I’d like to see a more scientific study of what are the real triggers of the ick/”I’m offended” reaction. Perhaps collect all of the instances of comments that caused it and compare with a representative sample of non-icky/offensive comments?
The hypotheses I’ve seen so far are:
to be thought of, talked about as, or treated like a non-person (Alicorn)
analysis of behavior that puts the reader in the group being analyzed, and the speaker outside it (orthonormal)
exclusion from the intended audience (Eliezer)
Then just keep on accepting suggested edits.
Doesn’t that assume that whoever suggested the edits knows what’s really causing the ick/offense, which you just pointed out may not be the case?
Is it out of bounds to consider plain and simple prejudice as the trigger?
Disgust reactions are frequently based on prejudices that should be challenged and rebutted. People frequently describe male sexuality in strikingly similar ways to how prejudiced people describe (typically male) homosexuality. You know, it’s disgusting, it’s ridiculous, it’s wrong in some indescribable way, it’s threatening and dangerous in some abstract, unfalsifiable sense. Except it’s not taboo to talk about male heterosexuality that way. Men are pigs, after all, and that they want to have sex is ridiculous and wrong ipso facto. We should question and challenge rather than try to rationalize these impulses. Maybe the validity of this kind of reaction shouldn’t be automatically assumed. Maybe the icky wrongness is hard to articulate because you’re trying to implausibly rationalize a slippery gut reaction, not trying to describe an elusive actual moral principle.
One of the (few?) areas where I would disagree with Nussbaum. She believes that ordinary human emotions are informative and should be taken seriously, with the special case that disgust should be ditched entirely, and I’m pretty sure there’s at least an obvious tension there.
Also, are there any papers on the evolutionary psychology of giving and taking offense in general? The closest thing I’ve found is http://www.slate.com/id/2202303/pagenum/all/, but that’s a magazine column rather than a scientific study.
I’d also be interested in any papers on the ethics of giving and taking offense from a consequentialist perspective.
I’d like to see a more scientific study of what are the real triggers of the ick/”I’m offended” reaction. Perhaps collect all of the instances of comments that caused it and compare with a representative sample of non-icky/offensive comments?
The hypotheses I’ve seen so far are:
to be thought of, talked about as, or treated like a non-person (Alicorn)
analysis of behavior that puts the reader in the group being analyzed, and the speaker outside it (orthonormal)
exclusion from the intended audience (Eliezer)
Doesn’t that assume that whoever suggested the edits knows what’s really causing the ick/offense, which you just pointed out may not be the case?
Is it out of bounds to consider plain and simple prejudice as the trigger?
Disgust reactions are frequently based on prejudices that should be challenged and rebutted. People frequently describe male sexuality in strikingly similar ways to how prejudiced people describe (typically male) homosexuality. You know, it’s disgusting, it’s ridiculous, it’s wrong in some indescribable way, it’s threatening and dangerous in some abstract, unfalsifiable sense. Except it’s not taboo to talk about male heterosexuality that way. Men are pigs, after all, and that they want to have sex is ridiculous and wrong ipso facto. We should question and challenge rather than try to rationalize these impulses. Maybe the validity of this kind of reaction shouldn’t be automatically assumed. Maybe the icky wrongness is hard to articulate because you’re trying to implausibly rationalize a slippery gut reaction, not trying to describe an elusive actual moral principle.
Here’s an interesting interview with Martha Nussbaum on related topics: http://www.reason.com/news/show/33316.html
One of the (few?) areas where I would disagree with Nussbaum. She believes that ordinary human emotions are informative and should be taken seriously, with the special case that disgust should be ditched entirely, and I’m pretty sure there’s at least an obvious tension there.
I don’t necessarily agree with Nussbaum, I just thought it was interesting and related.
There is ample stuff that’s perhaps more empirical
Also, are there any papers on the evolutionary psychology of giving and taking offense in general? The closest thing I’ve found is http://www.slate.com/id/2202303/pagenum/all/, but that’s a magazine column rather than a scientific study.
I’d also be interested in any papers on the ethics of giving and taking offense from a consequentialist perspective.