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There& #39;s a whole genre of rebuttal to criticism which goes something like:
"This thing isn& #39;t harmful because it isn& #39;t real. No one is actually getting hurt."
This is garbage. https://twitter.com/jana_aych_ess/status/1250472193324089346">https://twitter.com/jana_aych...
"This thing isn& #39;t harmful because it isn& #39;t real. No one is actually getting hurt."
This is garbage. https://twitter.com/jana_aych_ess/status/1250472193324089346">https://twitter.com/jana_aych...
For one, the criticism itself is often a first-hand account of some degree of harm being done. If someone was bothered enough by something to complain, that *is* something.
You may decide it& #39;s not sufficient to compel any changes to your behavior, but it& #39;s still *something*.
You may decide it& #39;s not sufficient to compel any changes to your behavior, but it& #39;s still *something*.
But, besides that, it& #39;s possible for something to just be bad without being directly harmful. Unless someone specifically makes the claim that something is harmful, changing to that framing is disingenuous at best.
It& #39;s the "I& #39;m not touching you..." of online Discourse.
It& #39;s the "I& #39;m not touching you..." of online Discourse.
Focusing on the "It isn& #39;t real" aspect, this response is also arguably* gaslighting in a couple of different ways.
*I& #39;m not going to argue it, though. If you don& #39;t like this usage, that& #39;s cool. Just pretend I& #39;m inserting "basically" or "adjacent" where applicable.
*I& #39;m not going to argue it, though. If you don& #39;t like this usage, that& #39;s cool. Just pretend I& #39;m inserting "basically" or "adjacent" where applicable.
First in the really obvious direct sense that it& #39;s being into question someone& #39;s grasp of reality.
*Obviously* it isn& #39;t real. No one was claiming that, e.g., the cartoon animal your hitting with your butterfly net is experiencing actual pain.
*Obviously* it isn& #39;t real. No one was claiming that, e.g., the cartoon animal your hitting with your butterfly net is experiencing actual pain.
But the framing implies that the critic is failing to recognize the difference between the fiction and reality. Again, disingenuous at best.
Obviously the criticism is about something else, even if it& #39;s using the shorthand of the harm within the fiction to talk about it.
Obviously the criticism is about something else, even if it& #39;s using the shorthand of the harm within the fiction to talk about it.
