Recently, I have become a proponent of Non-violent communication. Further, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand narcissism and gaslighting, and the abusive language tied to it. Understanding their use, and why they are used, has helped all of my relationships immensely.
I see a lot of reversion to abusive language in situations where there is obvious hypocrisy or an attempt to hide your desires (which is a major component of discussion in NVC). It is typical to see name dismissive name calling and condescension, which is different from group labelling... which is still probably categorization error.
Some examples of dismissive name calling in our current climate can be "You are just a (liberal/conservate/whatever)."; "That's just (stupid/silly/dumb)."; "Group X is (evil/brainwashed/sheep/etc.)". Anti-LGBT or Anti-any-category or group is basically abuse in the first place as well, as you should be able to directly attack their policy positions, rather than the group themselves. Labeling is just generally wrong, unless that label is based on an action: for example, "Biden voters" and "Trump voters" are categories based on action, rather than an attempt to apply a dismissive label.
By avoiding writers and commentary that use abusive language, I have rapidly found myself more informed. Further, I have discovered why I don't care for the works of Stephen Pinker. One example was when he tied the entire concept of environmentalism to anti-nuclear groups, and used the argument to deny all environmentalism in "Enlightenment Now".
I remember hearing, living in abuse will lead to abuse. It is a cycle. But what happens when verbal abuse is pervasive in a society, and it's part of the standard news cycle? Well, you get an abusive society.
Learn to spot abuse, and don't read those who use it in their writings and discussions.
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Recently, I have become a proponent of Non-violent communication. Further, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand narcissism and gaslighting, and the abusive language tied to it. Understanding their use, and why they are used, has helped all of my relationships immensely.
I see a lot of reversion to abusive language in situations where there is obvious hypocrisy or an attempt to hide your desires (which is a major component of discussion in NVC). It is typical to see name dismissive name calling and condescension, which is different from group labelling... which is still probably categorization error.
Some examples of dismissive name calling in our current climate can be "You are just a (liberal/conservate/whatever)."; "That's just (stupid/silly/dumb)."; "Group X is (evil/brainwashed/sheep/etc.)". Anti-LGBT or Anti-any-category or group is basically abuse in the first place as well, as you should be able to directly attack their policy positions, rather than the group themselves. Labeling is just generally wrong, unless that label is based on an action: for example, "Biden voters" and "Trump voters" are categories based on action, rather than an attempt to apply a dismissive label.
By avoiding writers and commentary that use abusive language, I have rapidly found myself more informed. Further, I have discovered why I don't care for the works of Stephen Pinker. One example was when he tied the entire concept of environmentalism to anti-nuclear groups, and used the argument to deny all environmentalism in "Enlightenment Now".
I remember hearing, living in abuse will lead to abuse. It is a cycle. But what happens when verbal abuse is pervasive in a society, and it's part of the standard news cycle? Well, you get an abusive society.
Learn to spot abuse, and don't read those who use it in their writings and discussions.