Recently we have been hearing lots of people talking about how tired they are of all this “political correctness.” It is as if they can’t make the point they want to make and be “politically correct” at the same time. Let’s consider this a bit further.
At its core, “political correctness” has a goal of trying not to offend others. The desire to be “politically correct” is the desire not to use words or phrases that will, or might, offend other people with whom we are having a conversation. This goal is important because the dialogue is more likely to be successful in both directions when there is no offense taken on either side of the conversation.
So, with this goal at the heart of “political correctness,” when someone says they are “tired of all this political correctness,” what they are saying is that they intend to offend others. They are saying they intend to use inflammatory language when they engage in conversation. They may use profanity when it should be avoided or resort to name calling or other tactics that will cause discomfort in their audience. This all sounds like behavior to be avoided rather than something to be embraced.
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Other researchers have questioned the Cornell paper’s conclusions, arguing that political correctness itself may create environments of uncertainty in the first place because political correctness focuses on the impact of behavior rather than the intent of behavior, causing uncertainty for individuals as they do not know if what they say will be regarded as offensive by others.
Thanks for your thoughts on this posting. I am not familiar with the Cornell paper you mention in your comment so I am not sure if my idea is in agreement or not. Either way, I imagine that we all have had experiences where our message was misunderstood by others because we didn’t take the time to think about how it would be heard before we spoke. I know I do better making a point when I think about my words before I speak them or write them.
However, the ‘politically correct’ thought agendas of the neo–Darwinists of the 19 are ideologically opposed to the idea of ‘Lamarckian Feedback’, just as the Church was opposed to the idea of evolution based on natural selection in the 18!
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and look around my blog. While I am not familiar with the philosophical ideas you’re referencing, I do think they are out of the context I was writing about. That said, thank you again for your interest.
Have a great day,
Hank