This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I suppose it might be relevant to bring up my own n=1 anecdotal experience with a voluntary surgical procedure. About a year, maybe a year and a half ago, an acquaintance-of-an-acquaintance posted on twitter that they were seeking a kidney, as they had begun to enter renal failure and while thanks to modern medicine they were stable, their lifespan had changed from an easy seventy or eighty years to about forty without a transplant. So I figured hey, this guy needs a kidney, and whadya know I've got this spare lying around not really doing anything. Let's see about getting rid of it.
First I had to figure out if I was compatible. I was. What followed was a surprisingly rigorous battery of examinations, questionnaires, interviews, pre-recorded educational modules, and re-interviews. Was I absolutely sure I wanted to give this guy a kidney? Did I know the potential surgical side-effects? Was I absolutely sure I wanted to give this guy a kidney? What about the possibility of complications? Was I absolutely sure I wanted to give this guy a kidney? What was my support structure? Was I absolutely sure I wanted to give this guy a kidney? Did I live in a building with an elevator? Was I absolutely sure I wanted to give this guy a kidney? Could I get groceries without physically lifting more than 20lbs? Was I absolutely sure I wanted to give this guy a kidney? You get the gist. Once I had managed to convince my donor liaison (appointed by the hospital as my advocate) that I knew the risks, that I knew I could withdraw consent right up until they gassed me (my words not theirs), that I was of sound mental health, then came the actual tests.
I am something of a connoisseur of hospital blood draws - for whatever reason the vagaries of life have resulted in my giving a significant percentage of my blood to various medical apparatchiks - and let me tell you the blood tests they ran on me were exhaustive. I think they filled about twenty of those little blood vials in one sitting. Then were more tests. Looking back at my records about thirty in all, from an EKG to a full metabolic panel. Then after all these tests were done, I sat down with a nephrologist (kidney doctor). The nephrologist, a very nice woman, looked at all my tests, and politely told me that she was declining to move forward with my donation. She thought that (1) at 26 I was too young, and (2) one of my kidney function tests was not perfectly centered in the "normal" function range. She was very clear that it was mostly a function of age, and that had I come to her when I was 30 she probably would have given me the green light, or at least been willing to take a closer look at what was causing the slight abnormality in that one test.
And that was that.
I can't help but contrast this, a potentially life-saving surgery with very minimal long-term knock on effects (kidney donors do not have a decreased life span or at most lose half a year to a year, various foundations and the recipient's insurance cover all medical and associated bills including transportation and recovery fees, the total hospital stay is one to two days, with full recovery in 3-4 months) with what are ultimately cosmetic surgeries with largely unknown long-term effects, and the difference in treatment a transitioning teenager receives (full endorsement and full surgery at 18) versus my own. I'm not upset with my treatment mind you, if the kidney doctor says no then the kidney doctor says no, and she probably knows best. It's just... an odd juxtaposition.
More options
Context Copy link