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supergeeMelissa McEwan says that the Rally to Restore Sanity unfairly stigmatizes the many people with mental difficulties who are not running for office on the Republican ticket. I wonder.
Long ago, Gore Vidal pointed out that heterosexual, as an adjective describing acts, is operational: One can tell with reasonable certainty whether it applies to a particular act. If, however, one tries to apply it to people, nearly endless confusion and conflict follows. In general, trying to describe a person by a single term is problematic whether it be Presbyterian or son of a bitch. Descriptions of people are particularly good examples of Korzybski's "Whatever you say it is, it isn't."
On the other hand, the idea that Planned Parenthood is staffed by Satanists who perform abortions in order to feed innocent blood to their deity deserves stigmatizing. At the very least, it's obviously untrue and liable to lead to undeserved hatred. Perhaps we should use the word crazy for the idea, without speculating on the mental state of those uttering it. Or maybe the word is so tangled with its use to label people that we need a different word. What do you think?
Long ago, Gore Vidal pointed out that heterosexual, as an adjective describing acts, is operational: One can tell with reasonable certainty whether it applies to a particular act. If, however, one tries to apply it to people, nearly endless confusion and conflict follows. In general, trying to describe a person by a single term is problematic whether it be Presbyterian or son of a bitch. Descriptions of people are particularly good examples of Korzybski's "Whatever you say it is, it isn't."
On the other hand, the idea that Planned Parenthood is staffed by Satanists who perform abortions in order to feed innocent blood to their deity deserves stigmatizing. At the very least, it's obviously untrue and liable to lead to undeserved hatred. Perhaps we should use the word crazy for the idea, without speculating on the mental state of those uttering it. Or maybe the word is so tangled with its use to label people that we need a different word. What do you think?
