The End Of The World As We Know It
When I started up this blog one of the things I wanted to avoid doing was publishing ‘click bait’. The title of this post seems at odds with that goal. For that I apologise. However to entitle this piece in a way that exaggerates the issue fits in nicely with the pieces content. Today I ramble about catastrophizing.
The term itself has been around for quite some time but Catastrophizing has only recently graduated into the lexicon of mainstream folk. To catastrophize is to “view or present a situation as considerably worse than it actually is” (1).
Most of us have been guilty of this kind of behaviour at one time or another but I’m going to suggest that I wouldn’t be catastrophizing when I say it’s on the increase of late. Simply look at the news. Listen to our politicians. It’s all disasters and emergencies all of the time.
The recent behaviour of some students at Yale over Halloween costumes is particularly noteworthy. A group of students confronted one of their professors, Nicholas Christakis, over an email expressing an opinion which differed with the student body’s position on Halloween costumes. The video footage is confronting.
“In your position as master,” one student says, “it is your job to create a place of comfort and home for the students who live in Silliman. You have not done that. By sending out that email, that goes against your position as master. Do you understand that?!”
“No,” he said, “I don’t agree with that.”
The student explodes, “Then why the fuck did you accept the position?! Who the fuck hired you?! You should step down! If that is what you think about being a master you should step down! It is not about creating an intellectual space! It is not! Do you understand that? It’s about creating a home here. You are not doing that!” (2).
Let’s just for one moment ignore the quite ridiculous idea that a university professor, who is also a master, should not be creating an intellectual space at a university. This student is calling for a professor’s resignation over a simple difference in opinion.
It is particularly important that the policy with regards to Halloween costumes had not changed. Students were still discouraged from wearing dreadlocks at Halloween because it might mock someone’s cultural or religious beliefs. The actual ‘Halloween checklist’ can be found here (3).
Examine your Facebook feed. Note the number of sponsored articles noting the worst PM ever, the worst case of sexism ever, the worst case of impacted bowels ever. My personal favourite offerings are the; you’ll never believe what happened next in this obviously staged video. We’ve all clicked them.
Mainstream media is quite often nearly as bad. Right now elements of our media are describing the latest storm which just hit Sydney as the worst storm this century. We are just fifteen years into this one hundred year century. One news outlet has stepped it up even further reporting that the storm is unprecedented (4). The thousand odd people injured in the storm which struck Sydney on January 1 1947 might disagree.
That example illustrates just how easy it is to determine when someone is catastrophizing. Simply compare the recent event with history. It places the event quite neatly into context and often debunks the worst cases of catastrophizing. It’s also a wonderful way to appreciate just how fortunate we are to be living in the times in which we are living.
In addition to this I’d encourage people to actively debunk, and criticise where appropriate, the constant bombardment of ridiculous articles we receive through social media. I extend this to my friends on social media.
If you’re going to espouse the obviously stupid, I’m going to point out just how obviously stupid it is. If you’re going to forward articles which encourage weak ideas then I’m going to point out just how weak those ideas are. If that upsets you then perhaps you should consider who you might have upset with your comments. While you’re at it contemplate that we could absolutely have a society in which no one is ever offended. All we’d have to be willing to do is give up the right to free speech… and cartooning.
We all say things we regret. Social media often amplifies our mistakes in this regard. It’s worth noting that the professor, Nicholas Christakis, later tweeted that “no-one, especially no students exercising right to speech, should be judged just on basis of short video clip.”
We should all listen to the professor. Furthermore we should accept that while to criticize is important, acknowledging when someone has accepted our criticism and perhaps adjusted their stance is also important. As courageous as we should be when expressing our opinions it’s perhaps more courageous to change them.
(1) http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/catastrophize
(3) https://www.thefire.org/college-students-should-be-scared-to-celebrate-halloween/
(4) http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-16/tornado-hail-destructive-winds-hit-sydney/7032370