Chicago Declaration: No Safe Spaces, No Trigger Warnings

[Lion IRC]

At some point in time the concept of a 'trigger warning' such as;
- parental advisory labels,
- film classication ratings, (G, PG, R)
- news stories with graphic content,
- documentaries which alert indigenous (Aborigine) viewers that footage contains (Aboriginal) people who have since died, etc

...started to be exploited as a thought control device.

The demand for trigger warnings was cynically coming to be used, not in a compassionate way but in order to denigrate and malign (for example) the content of an "R" rated film - rather than warn parents. Pornography 'triggers' certain reactions - therefore pornography must be bad. Homophobia - whatever that means - triggers reactions in the LGBT community, therefore it must be bad. The person who holds 'offensive' opinions can now be told that they must pre-warn sensitive folks before they are allowed to speak. The term 'trigger warning' has become the PC version of a dog whistle

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2016/08/university_of_chicago_kicks_po.html

Students at the University of Chicago are being warned (though those of us who actually like learning might call it an upsell) that the college does not do trigger warnings, safe spaces, or cancel invitations to controversial speakers and tells prospective students to expect ideas being challenged as part of their higher ed experience.

Excellent!

...Refrain from trying to intimidate or harass others based on petty prejudices and you will have no problem with this minor phenomena called "political correctness".

Refrain from accusing people of intimidation and harassment and of having "petty prejudices" and YOU will have no problem with this phenomena. The only reason ppl push back is because they don't like being told what is and is not politically 'correct' and they don't like being told that their views require a parental advisory sticker.

The slogan 'black lives matter' triggers me because I hate racism and segregation.
The term same sex marriage triggers me because I fear its consequences.
"Abortion-on-demand" should be censored because, to me, it's just another term for baby killer. Unborn babies lives matter!

 

[Angra Mainyu]

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2016/08/university_of_chicago_kicks_po.html

Students at the University of Chicago are being warned (though those of us who actually like learning might call it an upsell) that the college does not do trigger warnings, safe spaces, or cancel invitations to controversial speakers and tells prospective students to expect ideas being challenged as part of their higher ed experience.

Excellent!

So, they have issued a trigger warning that there will be no trigger warnings?

It seems they didn't mean to imply that there will be no trigger warnings, but rather, that trigger warnings are not mandated (each professor can choose whether or not to issue them).
Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/08/27/college-pushes-back-vs-political-correctness.cnn

 

[Mumbles]

So, I'd like to know...

about "trigger warnings".

How often are they used for people to just run away from essential material, as opposed to just saying "Yes, we will show this particular image, get ready."? Seems important to this discussion.

Also, I have to wonder, why send a letter like this to an incoming freshman class at all?

Are students just moving into their dorms and immediately demanding "safe spaces" for...something? Or are they demanding "trigger warnings" on the first day of class, and immediately rallying marches and protests? That's wildly different from my own experiences about 20 years prior, and even if true, seems to require far more than a simple one-page letter to address.

Honestly, if I had received this letter on my first day of college, I'd view it as unprovoked hostility.

"Welcome you Ucampus. WE DON"T CONDONE THIS!"

If "THIS" were rape, or even public drunkenness, I'd get it. But..."WE DON"T CONDONE TRIGGER WARNINGS!" Um...what?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

While I agree PTSD is real it's no excuse to avoid the coursework.

Put the warnings in the description of the class so someone can choose to not take it if they're likely to have a problem with it. (Equivalent to the warnings a couple of classes in college had about sexual subject matter that would be shown/discussed in class.)

And when the class is a requirement?

Then you're in the wrong degree. Change programs.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

So, I'd like to know...

about "trigger warnings".

How often are they used for people to just run away from essential material, as opposed to just saying "Yes, we will show this particular image, get ready."? Seems important to this discussion.

Also, I have to wonder, why send a letter like this to an incoming freshman class at all?

Are students just moving into their dorms and immediately demanding "safe spaces" for...something? Or are they demanding "trigger warnings" on the first day of class, and immediately rallying marches and protests? That's wildly different from my own experiences about 20 years prior, and even if true, seems to require far more than a simple one-page letter to address.

Honestly, if I had received this letter on my first day of college, I'd view it as unprovoked hostility.

"Welcome you Ucampus. WE DON"T CONDONE THIS!"

If "THIS" were rape, or even public drunkenness, I'd get it. But..."WE DON"T CONDONE TRIGGER WARNINGS!" Um...what?

Have you watched the video I linked to?
They don't demand trigger warnings. They don't force professors to issue trigger warnings. But they don't force professors not to issue them, either.
While the letter was not properly worded (e.g., see the video I linked to, and also this link), this seems like a reaction to a perceived growing intolerance towards free speech (involving both attempt at institutional bans and bullying, off and mostly on-line) from some left-wingers, or "liberals" as described in the video.

I'm not in the US so I can only speak from what I experience and see others experience on line, and other pieces on line I can get, but I have to say I do get this impression too.

The professor speaking in the video I linked to represents another branch of the left - one that is for free speech. Also, the author of the blog I linked to is a left-winger, and even he sometimes launches strong unjust attacks on other people, but for the most part, he sees the threat to free speech from and denounces it (just another example: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2016/08/crime-vs-sex-crime.html ). So, not all of the left is anti-free speech.

But I do get the impression that the left-wing anti-speech branch (or branches) is very strong.

Regarding the wording of the letter, it says they "do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’"; and they don't condone "the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own"; but I'd have to agree with Leiter's point that the video suggests the letter wasn't approved by the administration - or if it was, they did a pretty poor job at writing it.

An interesting link regarding trigger warnings:

https://www.insidehighered.com/view...rigger-warnings#sthash.pACipTqH.7UJ9887t.dpbs
I don't agree with all they say, but I think they raise some good points about it, and perhaps those might be persuasive to some people on the left (but this part is extremely tentative).

 

[JonA]

Honestly, if I had received this letter on my first day of college, I'd view it as unprovoked hostility.

- - - Updated - - -

And when the class is a requirement?

Then you're in the wrong degree. Change programs.

And when it's a requirement for the school?

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Honestly, if I had received this letter on my first day of college, I'd view it as unprovoked hostility.

I see it more as a mission statement. At this university we are going to challenge you and make you think. It also pre-empts any accusations and demands students later try to make about wanting "safe spaces" where their fragile minds won't be challenged. It is a call out for students who WANT to be challenged and want to grow instead of shrink away and hide from the world of dangerous ideas.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Honestly, if I had received this letter on my first day of college, I'd view it as unprovoked hostility.

I see it more as a mission statement. At this university we are going to challenge you and make you think. It also pre-empts any accusations and demands students later try to make about wanting "safe spaces" where their fragile minds won't be challenged. It is a call out for students who WANT to be challenged and want to grow instead of shrink away and hide from the world of dangerous ideas.

This. You're going to get a lot of stuff when you start with any large endeavor, it's simply a description of how things work.

 

[JonA]

How things should work, for sure. Unfortunately, Chicago aside, too many liberal arts schools are turning into the Regressive Left's version of the religious right's avoidance schools.

That's what makes this letter important.

 

[Jarhyn]

You can't do certain kinds of work without causes, or without getting them. You generally can't get causes without getting blisters first. The act of becoming tough usually involves experiences which suck. Success generally only follows after failure, and coping skills generally only grow when someone has been traumatized to the point where they need to cope.

PTSD sucks. I've known plenty of people who have dealt with it. The answer is generally not to hide from your feelings but to *feel* those feelings, completely, and to evaluate them with loved ones and supportive people until you have gotten through them. Go back there. Feel the pain again and again and again until you can stand up under it. Sometimes this leads to fantastic art. Sometimes it leads to delicious perversion. But generally, the results are always going to be a stronger person. Sometimes they aren't, granted, but that's what mental health infrastructure was, and should again be, there for.

 

[Trausti]

College Professor Reminds Students It Will Take A Few Classes To Memorize Everyone’s Triggers

http://www.theonion.com/article/college-professor-reminds-students-it-will-take-fe-53754

 

[ZiprHead]

University Administration in charge of Institutional Fascism.

Trigger Warning

Whose dick do I have to suck to get that job?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

You can't do certain kinds of work without causes, or without getting them. You generally can't get causes without getting blisters first. The act of becoming tough usually involves experiences which suck. Success generally only follows after failure, and coping skills generally only grow when someone has been traumatized to the point where they need to cope.

PTSD sucks. I've known plenty of people who have dealt with it. The answer is generally not to hide from your feelings but to *feel* those feelings, completely, and to evaluate them with loved ones and supportive people until you have gotten through them. Go back there. Feel the pain again and again and again until you can stand up under it. Sometimes this leads to fantastic art. Sometimes it leads to delicious perversion. But generally, the results are always going to be a stronger person. Sometimes they aren't, granted, but that's what mental health infrastructure was, and should again be, there for.

Is "causes" supposed to be "callouses"?

 

[Jarhyn]

You can't do certain kinds of work without causes, or without getting them. You generally can't get causes without getting blisters first. The act of becoming tough usually involves experiences which suck. Success generally only follows after failure, and coping skills generally only grow when someone has been traumatized to the point where they need to cope.

PTSD sucks. I've known plenty of people who have dealt with it. The answer is generally not to hide from your feelings but to *feel* those feelings, completely, and to evaluate them with loved ones and supportive people until you have gotten through them. Go back there. Feel the pain again and again and again until you can stand up under it. Sometimes this leads to fantastic art. Sometimes it leads to delicious perversion. But generally, the results are always going to be a stronger person. Sometimes they aren't, granted, but that's what mental health infrastructure was, and should again be, there for.

Is "causes" supposed to be "callouses"?

Yes. My phone has an unfortunate problem where it likes to auto-correct my posts too zealously, and while it IS a net benefit that it autocorrects, it still leads to anomalies, in addition to those caused by the intersection of my fat fingers and bad dexterity.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Is "causes" supposed to be "callouses"?

Yes. My phone has an unfortunate problem where it likes to auto-correct my posts too zealously, and while it IS a net benefit that it autocorrects, it still leads to anomalies, in addition to those caused by the intersection of my fat fingers and bad dexterity.

Autocorrect can pull some doozies. Not long ago I ran into a post where it turned "autopay" into "autopsy". I just wasn't 100% certain of what it had changed.