Topic > The Difference Between Being Intolerant or Sensitive

Over the years people have increasingly taught their children that they should be kind to each other and generally strive to be good people. This was a fantastic idea in theory. However, at some point, being a good person has turned into a hypersensitive and critical attitude towards anyone who isn't. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The article by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathon Haidt discusses this phenomenon extensively. They claim that college students are trying to “cleanse campuses of words, ideas, and topics that may cause discomfort or offend” (1). Harvard professors are even told not to teach rape law because it might offend some students or cause them distress. Many comedians have also begun to refuse to perform on college campuses saying that "too many of them can't handle a joke" (2). There are two main terms that get thrown around a lot more on college campuses. The first is microaggressions which “are small actions or verbal choices that apparently do not appear to have malicious intent but are nevertheless considered a kind of violence.” (2). Microaggressions often happen by mistake, in fact in most cases the perpetrator does not even realize what he is doing and what could offend until the victim talks about it. The other term is a warning that "are warnings" that professors should issue if something in a course might cause a strong emotional response. (2). The types of things that professors should warn students about are generally works that contain themes of suicide, war, physical abuse, rape or sexual assault, racial violence, or other offensive topics. Some believe this is simply “political correctness reassurance.” (3). While this may be partially true, it is not exactly the same thing as what happened in the 1980s and 1990s. What happened then was to limit hate speech but also to broaden minds to see things as they were and to allow people to better understand diversity. What is happening today is less about broadening horizons and more about people's emotional well-being. This can do more harm than good, as creating a space where the goal is to keep everyone safe just because there's a chance some might feel uncomfortable if it wasn't, is not the answer. Ensuring that everyone is safe makes it very difficult for people to express themselves freely as “this movement seeks to punish anyone who interferes with that goal, even accidentally.” (4). This phenomenon is called vindictive guarding and can cause people to be more narrow-minded even though they are trying to be what they now believe is open-minded. Instead of using the wisdom of others to question their beliefs and learn to better understand the world, they try not to offend anyone or be offended and often dismiss new ideas very quickly. This also “poorly prepares them for professional life”. (5). In the workplace you have to do your job regardless of what might be offensive and being overly sensitive could make it difficult to get a job as a result. One of the hypotheses about how people became like this is what happened in the generation gap. The kids ran outside and played after school and were generally safe and that was just the way things were. However, there was an increase in crime from the 1960s to the early 1990s which made Baby Boomer parents much more cautious..