Hacker News Reader

Comment by dtx1 | Hacker News Reader

In General they do. But I disagree about your simpler is better point. I wouldn't want to have your average /pol/ User as part of my work if i can help it and it seems asking people to respect different gender and sexual identities is a great filter for toxic conservative edgelords.

View on HN

I feel the opposite, although I may be wrong.

But making a strong statement about the basics covers everything, and treats every bodies dignity at the same level.

Example:

1. Treat everyone with respect, regardless of differences

2. Treat everyone’s perspectives constructively, regardless of whether you agree with them

3. Consider honing your communication skills here. Fewer posts of increasing quality helps our community here, and increases your power in life everywhere.

Or something like that

It seems clear to me that would cover gender issues, but the point is don’t bully anyone is a stronger statement

—-

May be wrong but I have been thinking about this topic of specific vs general ethics communication a lot lately

Someone having trouble processing what gender identities mean can still learn to treat people with respect, without having to feel like they are being told what to think.

Picking up a habit of respectful treatment of people you don’t ever understand or agree with, explicitly independent of any specifics, is important in itself.

You are probably correct in principle but I guess it's more of a practical thing. People that are bothered by respecting other peoples gender identity aren't going to be swayed by these principled arguments. It's simply more practical to just filter them with a few specific keywords and not have to deal with them, those that stay aren't likely to become a problem.

You are also filtering out people who have trouble with that topic, but would see the sense in uniform respect.

But I am speaking out of interest here, not experience

So your point is well taken

Simpler is better, though. People's ideas of themselves shouldn't be the new "I'm vegan, btw" and forcing everyone to know and care about your idea of yourself is fucking bullshit, because nobody cares and the topic is something else.

It's extremely narcistic to believe that everyone needs to care about how you think of yourself. I don't respect your gender and sexual identity simply because I don't care, it's none of my business.

> I don't respect your gender and sexual identity simply because I don't care, it's none of my business.

And that's why it should filter you. I can respect someones idea of themselves and their gender or sexual identity precisely because I don't care. Working with People as opposed to working with machines requires accepting their individuality in a lot of facets. I personally am disgusted by religion and religious ideology, yet I can work with people even if they are believers, because I respect them as human beings.

Reminds me of the old I’m color blind, I don’t see race trope. Recognizing where someone is coming from, even if you don’t personally like it, that’s a basic requirement for communication.

Those instance where people complain about misgendering? That’s not when someone accidentally uses the wrong pronoun. It’s when a person purposefully ignores someone else’s wishes and calls them in a way that is hurtful.

To me saying it’s just messages in a bug tracker, and identity doesn’t matter, that person can’t be serious. I feel we have to learn this lesson over and over again.

This is the one of the biggest things. If someone identifies with a set of pronouns (and it's one of the mainstream set no less) and the community goes out of their way to misgender them, there's no excuse for it, other than they're being purposely toxic. This is also something that takes zero effort to do (just call everyone "they" unless they explicitly indicate otherwise), and metiocracy or otherwise has no bearings.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com