A while back there was a thread about eliminating intelligence-based insults from our vocab. Words like "Dumb", "stupid", etc.

https://hexbear.net/post/15636

My gut instinct to this was to get angry, and berate the OP u/QuillQuote for his ideas. I insulted him, I called him dumb, and when he pm'd me, I dismissed all his arguments and called him dumb again. Then he told me to go fuck myself and I told him I would masturbate later

Since then I actually thought a little about the issue and I began to see their point. An intelligence-based insult is fundamentally wrong, because it concerns something that cannot be controlled.

Insults about race, gender, and sexuality are all de facto verboten here because they target traits that can't be controlled--and I agree.

Intelligence can't be controlled either. And intelligence is actually one of the most disadvantaging traits to be handicapped by. Ditto for appearance.

Likewise, AGE cannot be controlled either, you only age in one direction and that's it. If I was 55, there's nothing I can do to be more like a 30 year old. MOREOVER, some people actually have inborn disabilities that make them age faster, with some 10 year old children having the biological age of a 40 year old adult.

So I'm making the proposition that we should attempt to eliminate these words from our arsenal of insults. Words like "dumb", "stupid", "boomer", "ugly", "short", are all words that target people on traits that they cannot control, and worse, they insult other bystanders in the process who may have committed no offense.

In fact, I called someone a boomer jokingly just a few minutes ago. That was the trigger that made me think about this. I apologize if my words hurt anyone.

  • QuillQuote [they/them]
    9·
    4 years ago

    Thanks for thinking about the impact of your actions comrade. I completely forgive you for what happened before, because I can see you’ve really made an effort to face up to why you did what you did and make an effort not to in the future.

    No one is perfect and we all fuck up and hurt people sometimes, but at the end of the day doing what you’ve done here is the way forwards (not deciding to be against intelligence based insults, but doing real self crit and acting on it)

    Thanks comrade <3

    Edit: for real, who downvotes this? how salty and toxic do you have to be lol

    • lvysaur [he/him]
      5·
      4 years ago

      Thanks man. It's no problem.

      I probably won't be perfect for a while but I'm going to second guess myself on my old habits as much as I can

      • QuillQuote [they/them]
        4·
        4 years ago

        That's all anyone can do. Being aware how easy it is to fuck up and how often you have in the past makes you look at yourself and your actions more carefully and critically, and for me at least has been the biggest source for my growth as a person