Comment by fauigerzigerk
10 hours ago
>Now, one could argue that the repeated use of swear words, even in private, negatively influences one's behavior
One could even argue that just having bad thoughts, fantasies or feelings poses a risk to yourself or others.
Humankind has been trying to deal with this issue for thousands of years in the most fantastical ways. They're not going to stop trying.
Meh.
I decided shortly after becoming an atheist that one of the worst parts was the notion that there are magic words that can force one to feel certain things and I found that to be the same sort of thinking as saying that a woman’s short skirt “made” you attack her.
You’re a fucking adult, you can control your emotions around a little skin or a bad word.
The question is, is it just a word, or is there an emotion underneath? Your last sentence sounds "just" cynical / condescending on its own, but when you add "fucking", it comes across like you're actually angry. And emotional language is the easiest way to make an online discussion go from reasonable, rational and constructive to a digital shouting match. It's no longer about the subject matter, it's about how they make someone feel.
Yeah kind of ironic to make a comment about controlling your emotions while cursing at a stranger because you disagreed with their reasonable perspective.
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I agree with you completely, but society will never stop being scared of thoughts and feelings.
As an atheist, I have noticed that atheists are only slightly less prone to this paranoia and will happily resort to science and technology to justify and enforce ever tighter restrictions and surveillance mechanisms to keep control.
Arguably, to the point of religious fervor. Take the AI boom, some people genuinely believe (<- note that key word) that AI becoming self-aware and dominant is inevitable, and that anyone who did not do their best to make that happen will be punished. Roko's Basilisk, which is the digital version of Pascal's Wager, but wrapped in supposed rationalism and tech bro stuff.
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We think in language, words can definitely make you feel emotions. You have not transcended that. This is true for the very comment you replied to which caused you to angrily curse at a stranger.