"I'm just trying to understand..."
SyzygyX
Posts: 189 Member
"I'm not being racist/sexist/homophobic/deliberately obtuse/etc--I'm just trying to understand!"
Okay. I know that there are several factors at play here. I know that my own thirst for knowledge drives a lot of my self-education and so I'm more motivated to learn stuff than other people. I know that my opportunities for advanced education helped give me a stronger ability to do independent research and think critically about source materials. And I know that my default setting is "not knowing" and that it's my responsibility to educate myself before I open my mouth about something. "I only know that I know nothing" and all that.
But WHY do I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who knows how to utilize the AMAZING educational tool that is the internet in order to further my education about sociopolitical issues? (Yes, this is inspired by the response to that woman looking for lesbian friends.) SO MANY people said things about how it was "just as bad" to exclude straight people, that if "you guys and gals" are fighting for equality, shouldn't you include everybody, and I even actually saw the word "heterophobia" used with a presumably straight face.
And not one of these people was willing to answer their own questions!! No one thought to google anything, or even ask a productive question to be answered by more informed people. Because they didn't really want to know, of course. And that's the thing. Someone had the audacity to ask me how I had gotten the impression that this website "doesn't like homosexuals," and I was just, like. I dunno, reading this entire thread??
ARGH I wish more people would UNDERSTAND systemic oppression and how 99 percent of us are complicit in SOME form of it so maybe they should either SHUT UP AND LISTEN or TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR LEARNING AND USE GOOGLE FOR PETE'S SAKE. I'm so sick of "why don't you just educate us if you care so much" attitudes. Also the "these people should be open and tolerant to EVERYONE so that normal people will tolerate them!!" attitudes. These aren't reddit debate topics where you can play devil's advocate because these issues don't apply to you; these are people's DAILY LIVES.
Sorry...this rant started out much more organized than I thought it would be.
Okay. I know that there are several factors at play here. I know that my own thirst for knowledge drives a lot of my self-education and so I'm more motivated to learn stuff than other people. I know that my opportunities for advanced education helped give me a stronger ability to do independent research and think critically about source materials. And I know that my default setting is "not knowing" and that it's my responsibility to educate myself before I open my mouth about something. "I only know that I know nothing" and all that.
But WHY do I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who knows how to utilize the AMAZING educational tool that is the internet in order to further my education about sociopolitical issues? (Yes, this is inspired by the response to that woman looking for lesbian friends.) SO MANY people said things about how it was "just as bad" to exclude straight people, that if "you guys and gals" are fighting for equality, shouldn't you include everybody, and I even actually saw the word "heterophobia" used with a presumably straight face.
And not one of these people was willing to answer their own questions!! No one thought to google anything, or even ask a productive question to be answered by more informed people. Because they didn't really want to know, of course. And that's the thing. Someone had the audacity to ask me how I had gotten the impression that this website "doesn't like homosexuals," and I was just, like. I dunno, reading this entire thread??
ARGH I wish more people would UNDERSTAND systemic oppression and how 99 percent of us are complicit in SOME form of it so maybe they should either SHUT UP AND LISTEN or TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR LEARNING AND USE GOOGLE FOR PETE'S SAKE. I'm so sick of "why don't you just educate us if you care so much" attitudes. Also the "these people should be open and tolerant to EVERYONE so that normal people will tolerate them!!" attitudes. These aren't reddit debate topics where you can play devil's advocate because these issues don't apply to you; these are people's DAILY LIVES.
Sorry...this rant started out much more organized than I thought it would be.
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It's pathetic that "I'm just trying to understand" could so often more accurately be expressed as "I don't understand so please unsuccessfully explain your untenable position to me so I can explain where you're wrong".
Idiots spend a lifetime carving a rock solid worldview they can dogmatically pass on wherever the opportunity presents. Smart people have a much more fluid and dynamic relationship with information, are willing to collect more and consider how it pertains to both parts and the whole. Relationships and interrelationships. You're doing something that less sophisticated minds can't do, or are too lazy/stubborn/unmotivated to do.0 -
It's pathetic that "I'm just trying to understand" could so often more accurately be expressed as "I don't understand so please unsuccessfully explain your untenable position to me so I can explain where you're wrong".
Idiots spend a lifetime carving a rock solid worldview they can dogmatically pass on wherever the opportunity presents. Smart people have a much more fluid and dynamic relationship with information, are willing to collect more and consider how it pertains to both parts and the whole. Relationships and interrelationships. You're doing something that less sophisticated minds can't do, or are too lazy/stubborn/unmotivated to do.
That last part is always the rub, ya know. As a teacher, I never want to assume that how I understand things is how everyone can or should understand them, but at the same time, most of the time, these aren't people who really want to learn. I have less of a problem explaining these concepts to people who really want to learn and are having a hard time understanding - though, again, reading multiple sources helps more than asking one person's opinion/interpretation - but most of the time, it's exactly what we've said: just douchey people trying to catch you in a mistake or who don't really care about what you have to say.0
