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Reply #9: Technical vs emotional [View All]

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zipplewrath Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-20-10 01:15 PM
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9. Technical vs emotional
The problem with many of those words, and more, are that they have technical definitons, and more emotional ones. There is a technical definition of communism, and it has little to do with the form of government in either the USSR or China. Discrimination is a good thing when trying to choose targets, or cancer cells. The problem with the "XXXists" (or the slighly more modern "phobes") is that it has been equated with some sort of active or conscious decision, as oppose to the result of cultural up bringing. There is bias, and that can cause prejudice. However, not all bias is intentional or concious. All of these words develop a strong negative emotional context however, that makes them difficult to use in anything approaching a social context. Heck, remember the poor guy that used (correctly I might add) the word "niggardly"? He had to quit his job. Try to tell someone that their understanding contains a bias and they'll respond (forcefully) "Are you calling me a racist?".
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