I don’t like the word “toxic” because it’s kind of essentialist without exposing actual causes/effects/mechanisms/inputs-outputs. I think it’s useful sometimes as shorthand between people who have a high degree of agreement on what “toxic” means in a given context, but it’s sort of a slippery word.
problematic does not differentiate between “bad”, “harmful” and “difficult”. Replacing the carbouretor in Honda Civic with only a spatula and a corksrew for tools is problematic, but not necessarily harmful or bad.
I’ve long used “destructive” for that.
Harmful, maybe? Not all harms involve destruction (physical or relationships, etc.).
I recently started making a similar distinction in my life and using the word “toxic”
I don’t like the word “toxic” because it’s kind of essentialist without exposing actual causes/effects/mechanisms/inputs-outputs. I think it’s useful sometimes as shorthand between people who have a high degree of agreement on what “toxic” means in a given context, but it’s sort of a slippery word.
I also like “problematic”—it could be used as a ‘we are not yet quite sure about how bad this is’ version of “destructive”
Problematic is already associated with bigotry and I don’t think invoking a political frame is helpful for these sorts of situations.
I don’t think it does invoke a political frame if you use it right but perhaps I have too much confidence in how I’ve used the term
problematic does not differentiate between “bad”, “harmful” and “difficult”. Replacing the carbouretor in Honda Civic with only a spatula and a corksrew for tools is problematic, but not necessarily harmful or bad.
Maybe “troubling”
I use problematic