Wednesday, April 22, 2015

How Infantile Are They?

Column for week of April 13, 2015

     Some people are different, really different.  They do
unbelievable things.  I have grown accustomed to this.  When I
hear of someone doing something I would never even imagine
doing, I don't usually jump to the conclusion that it can't
possibly be true.

     A recent article from Reason.com strained my limits.  If
it had been April first I might not have believed it.  The article
was about safe space on college campuses.  There is nothing
wrong with safe space.  The world would be a better place if
all space was safe from violence.  The space in question wasn't
designed to protect against violence.  It was a place to flee
from frightening ideas.

     The Reason article quotes Judith Shulevitz as follows
regarding safe space at Brown University: "The safe space, Ms.
Byron explained, was intended to give people who might find
comments 'troubling' or 'triggering,' a place to recuperate.  The
room was equipped with cookies, coloring books,
bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a
video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and
staff members trained to deal with trauma.  Emma Hall, a
junior, rape survivor and 'sexual assault peer educator' who
helped set up the room and worked in it during the debate,
estimates that a couple of dozen people used it.  At one point
she went to the lecture hall -- it was packed --  but after a
while, she had to return to the safe space. 'I was feeling
bombarded by a lot of viewpoints that really go against my
dearly and closely held beliefs,' Ms. Hall said."

     My first thought is, Why would someone terrified by
new ideas even set foot in a university?  Next thought, Why
would a real university cater to such a phobia, rather than
seeking to cure it?  One more thought, How has our society
reared children with infantile minds to physical adulthood?

     I see two threads that may help sew this together.  One
is the obsession with self esteem.  Earned self esteem is a good
thing.  Unwarranted self esteem can be a killer.

     Imagine a falling down drunk who feels good about
himself.  Why should he change if he is pleased with himself?
Giving everyone a trophy doesn't encourage effort and self
improvement.

     The second thread is the claim that all beliefs are
equally good.  We must not criticize anyone's beliefs and make
them feel bad.  Why would a college student break down into a
babbling blob merely because her beliefs were challenged? 
Most likely because those beliefs were never challenged before
and she has no idea how to defend them.

     In all probability those beliefs were passed on to her by
others who merely said "believe me."  They provided no
foundation or reasons why the beliefs were valid.

     Individuals who feel good about their beliefs and have
never faced challenges to those beliefs are in beyond their
depth when they venture beyond the intellectual wading pool. 
They certainly aren't ready for a real college.  And, a college
that isn't willing, and even eager, to challenge students isn't
ready for real students.

     Pretending to make the world idiot proof retards
development.  People need to take responsibility for their own
lives, including their safety.  Encouraging people to believe
everything is safe to buy and use only discourages them from
developing beyond infancy.  It also makes them less safe by
lulling them into believing their world is far safer than it is.

     As someone observed, attempts to make the world idiot
proof only produce more idiots.  I believe "idiot" is the wrong
word though.  "Fool" fits better.  Very bright people can still
do very foolish things.

     All of the above and more converge to assure adult
bodies are occupied and controlled by infantile minds.  This
shreds the fabric of civilization.  We stagger toward the point
of no return.

aldmccallum@gmail.com
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Copyright 2015
Albert D. McCallum

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