Different Than<p>Worldview:</p><p>"People deserve respect. Ideas do not."<br>-- (some guest lecturer in an undergrad class a long time ago)</p><p>It is my responsibility, if I want to be a decent human being, to treat you with respect, dignity, and kindness except (perhaps1 ) to the extent your behavior prompts a different response. This applies no matter who I think you are from my limited information, even if I think you're a racist, anti-LGBTQIA+, pro-genocide fascist. If those labels are not based on anything you've said or done, a decent human will still treat you with respect and kindness. </p><p>Ideas2 do not get any respect; the opposite, in fact. Ideas must prove their worth or be ignored. Ideas should be aggressively examined with careful, logical, moral thinking and, if relevant, with empirical data. To the extent they survive these ongoing tests, they get "respect," but it is always temporary. Ideas can (and should) be downgraded or thrown out often if they fail tests or if new information casts them in unfavorable light.</p><p>This applies to <em>all</em> ideas: eugenics, CRT, imperialism, Christianity, Buddhism, capitalism, socialism, fiscal policies, school board bylaws, etc.</p><p>Humans who believe bad3 things can (and should) still be treated with dignity and kindness unless such treatment leads to greater harm for others. This does not mean, however, that I need to pretend their ideas are OK. I can be basically kind and decent to a person while thinking (and maybe saying4 ) that their ideas are wrong, immoral, unhelpful, etc. If they get upset at this, it's understandable, but managing those feelings is beyond my responsibility.</p><p>Social dynamics get into this and make it messy and difficult. There are unspoken dimensions of Probable Cause to change evaluation of ideas, the Perfect being the Enemy of the Good, the question of when/if expressing ideas becomes an act capable of harming others more than necessary, power differentials, and other considerations. However, those are the principles I think make sense in this domain.</p><p>1 There are many who believe there are no exceptions.</p><p>2 e.g. the health benefits of essential oils or the belief that Everclear had more than one really good song</p><p>3 As defined by me, in my current state of development, of course. How else could it possibly be?</p><p>4 Of course, people sometimes do this out of cruelty or reactive aggression while claiming they are simply being honest. See the part about expression of ideas doing harm. Human psychology is a bitch, sometimes.</p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/subtoot" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>subtoot</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/vaguetoot" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vaguetoot</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/opinion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>opinion</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/values" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>values</span></a></p>