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"stop triggering me!!" - this statement said by certain folk is ridiculous

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DECK'ARD said:
I've only seen triggered used sarcastically on GAF.
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More or less. It seems to have lost a lot of its meaning when it seems to be used to imitate extremists on Tumblr or whatever. (I don't actually know if those people legitimately exist, since the trolls seem to outnumber the genuine ones in representation).

Now, I won't comment on people who feel that they've been triggered by something, but one thing I find weird is people who go out of their way to express their frustration as something so inoffensive as a "trigger warning". It's literally just two words. If it helps other people, then great. But if, like me, it doesn't mean anything to you, then...why not just ignore it? It seems like a relatively minor inconvenience. Why put in such an exorbitant amount of effort to care? (I know this is a tangential issue, but it's a related one that often bleeds over.)
 
I am of the thought that even if you do think it is ridiculous, it doesn't hurt to be mindful and respectful of other people's requests. If it makes someone more comfortable by having a trigger warning, then why not do it?
 
My mom suffers from PTSD, so I'm I don't believe a problem with the word. I can see how editing some material can be impossible (or simply undesirable) but if you can't write a simple sentence stating that your content may trigger thoughtsm then you're either lazy, inconsiderate, ignorant, or hell all of the above. I have no idea what the trends are with the word nowadays nor do I care, since I know the appropriate situations to use. I
 
lanella said:
I am of the thought that even if you do think it is ridiculous, it doesn't hurt to be mindful and respectful of other people's requests. If it makes someone more comfortable by having a trigger warning, then why not do it?
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I sort of agree with you, but it is kind of ridiculous to be mindful of every single person, especially if you're running something public like a tumblr. Sure, if you have a personal trigger, it makes sense to be mindful of it, but it is sort of ridiculous to expect every person, those anonymous to you, to conform to your comfort zone because you just happened to come upon it. There is therapy and help for a reason. Instead of waiting for the world to shape around you, it would probably be better to seek assistance and learn safe coping mechanisms.
 
I've never in real life experienced someone talking about being triggered, only over the internet and I'm never quite sure how serious people are being. I think there are is some validity to the whole trigger thing, but personally I can only be bothered so much to accommodate someone's feelings. I do my best, but sometimes my best isn't good enough for some people.
 
Corpekata said:
Where do people even encounter these people unless in specific areas they know where they will be found? I feel like 90 percent of the term trigger I've seen online are people making fun of strawpeople and circle jerking about how much they hate tumblr.
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I first encountered it a few years ago on Livejournal. I'm not sure if Tumblr was a thing yet.
 
Kraftwerk said:
I guess my other problem is also the fact that people use being triggered and offended as an excuse to shut other peoples opinion up these days. I see that happened a lot. And to see people use that excuse as a way to do it is very disconcerting.
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Usually when I see this type of thing happening the person whose opinion is being "shut up" is being a dick. This strawman argument is always being used but I don't ever see receipts for proof.

Trigger warnings are innocuous but they really, really rile people up. My wife, our friend and I have been running a social justice panel at the last few cons we have gone to. We always use "content note" because it's more of a broad concept than triggers. We don't want people to be triggered OR uncomfortable. It's not that hard to not be a fuckhead.

PS: I have been around folks when they are triggered. It's really awful.
 
Zuhzuhzombie!! said:
Just wait until you get into people who claim to be transn*gger.

Fuck those people.
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This is what I'm saying. Why are we relying on extreme examples as a way of criticizing something that is intended to show sensitivity towards victims of trauma? Why use those as a way of invalidating the potential usefulness of trigger warnings?

Get mad at the (vast, vast) minority of people who abuse trigger warnings, but don't start shitting on "trigger warning" as a concept.
 
Skux said:
You are right, it has gotten way out of hand, especially in colleges/universities. It's strange, colleges are supposed to be centres of debate, confronting issues openly and without fear. Now it feels like students are coddled into avoiding challenging material and ideas entirely simply because it makes a few people uncomfortable.
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100% this, it is mind boggling and it isn't just community colleges. Take a Civil War/Antebellum Era class in Texas, good times.
 
Daingurse said:
My suffers from PTSD, so I'm I don't believe a problem with. I can see edited some material can be impossible (or simply undesirable) but if you can't write a simple sentence, saying your content may trigger thoughts of PTSD at way,, You're either lazy, inconsiderate, ignorant, or hell all of the above. I have no idea what the trends are with the word nowadays nor do I care, since I know the appropriate situations to use. I
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But literally anything can be trigger to someone. That would mean every thread would need to start with "Warning X might be a trigger for some of you" even if it was about a ball game, a stupid Marvel thread, a thread about cell phones, and so on. It's not being an inconsiderate fuck head when something seemingly completely innocuous is a trigger warning to someone else. It's not fair to judge those people on something they couldn't have known.
 
Anton Sugar said:
This is what I'm saying. Why are we relying on extreme examples as a way of criticizing something that is intended to show sensitivity towards victims of trauma? Why use those as a way of invalidating the potential usefulness of trigger warnings?
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Some people love getting offended by other people getting offended.
 
Cruise Missile said:
But literally anything can be trigger to someone. That would mean every thread would need to start with "Warning X might be a trigger for some of you" even if it was about a ball game, a stupid Marvel thread, a thread about cell phones, and so on. It's not being an inconsiderate fuck head when something seemingly completely innocuous is a trigger warning to someone else. It's not fair to judge those people on something they couldn't have known.
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Real triggering comes from trauma.

Rape, suicide, war, abuse, and so on.

Not a thread about cell phones.
 
kirblar said:
It's something specific to PTSD and trauma victims that has been re-appropriated by idiots who use it to describe things that make them uncomfortable.

It's obnoxious and unfortunate.
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Pretty much what I was about to type, except I would have gone for "fucking pathetic" at the end there.
 
lanella said:
I am of the thought that even if you do think it is ridiculous, it doesn't hurt to be mindful and respectful of other people's requests. If it makes someone more comfortable by having a trigger warning, then why not do it?
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Literally anything could "trigger" someone. Stop encouraging their bratty bullshit.
 
Necromanti said:
Some people love getting offended by other people getting offended.
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Ill go the extra mile and say that those offended at people getting offended at things surpass the people getting offended at things. Just read that Benedict Curumber thread, funny to see so much outrage at a non-outrageous situation perfectly handled by both parts.
 
JDSN said:
Ill go the extra mile and say that those offended at people getting offended at things surpass the people getting offended at things. Just read that Benedict Curumber thread.
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Yep. Being outraged at the outrage culture is the new outrage culture.


Turtles all the way down.
 
neeksleep said:
I sort of agree with you, but it is kind of ridiculous to be mindful of every single person, especially if you're running something public like a tumblr. Sure, if you have a personal trigger, it makes sense to be mindful of it, but it is sort of ridiculous to expect every person, those anonymous to you, to conform to your comfort zone because you just happened to come upon it. There is therapy and help for a reason. Instead of waiting for the world to shape around you, it would probably be better to seek assistance and learn safe coping mechanisms.
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Yep, that is true, it is impossible to make an exhaustive list and be able to predict what could or could not upset an individual. But if someone requests adding a trigger warning to an article I wrote for example, I wouldn't have a problem doing that.
 
JMDSO said:
Real triggering comes from trauma.

Rape, suicide, war, abuse, and so on.

Not a thread about cell phones.
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Sure, but lets say you made a thread about cell phones, and used a statement such as 'battery exploded', which is a possible outcome, it 'exploded' could be a trigger warning in that sense. Out of context though, how are you supposed to know just how broad or how specific you can get?

That would almost require you, no matter how long or short your post, to pore over every word (or statement) and ensure its not a trigger. It'd be unrealistic to expect that from everyone for everything posted anywhere.
 
Zuhzuhzombie!! said:
I think this thread is about people who aren't victims of some type of trauma claiming to be triggered.
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Well, the reason I asked for examples is because conversations involving "trigger warnings" always takes a turn for the worst. People make it sound like everyone and their mother abuse trigger warnings, when in actuality is seems to be the rare random blogger on tumblr that does it.

It just paints "trigger warning" in an unfairly negative light, when (from my experience) it is more often used responsibly and appropriately.
 
Stephen Fry said:
It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what.
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Think about it.
 
Cruise Missile said:
But literally anything can be trigger to someone. That would mean every thread would need to start with "Warning X might be a trigger for some of you" even if it was about a ball game, a stupid Marvel thread, a thread about cell phones, and so on. It's not being an inconsiderate fuck head when something seemingly completely innocuous is a trigger warning to someone else. It's not fair to judge those people on something they couldn't have known.
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I'm not talking about everything when I say trigger. The only thing I think it should be is a as a tool for the traumatic events that DO trigger people. And I think this small group of people should have a trigger warning, because I've yet to see any reason against it that that hasn't my roll my eyes. Your example seems ass backwards, why blame some large group of people on the internet? That sounds stupid as fuck, we simply require people like yourself and I, to pay whoever these people are using the word wrong, no attention.

I think it's great inclusive Idea. if I saw something that had "TRIGGER WARNING" on it, hell I might buy it if anything else. It helps a very small minority, and it doesn't bother my ass at all.
 
kirblar said:
Not imaginary, from the Chait article I referenced earlier:

(I don't want to derail this into a discussion of the piece, which is worth discussing independently.)
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I believe the lady referenced went to jail, so I'm not sure what your point is.

Zuhzuhzombie!! said:
I think this thread is about people who aren't victims of some type of trauma claiming to be triggered.
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And how do you know?

freethought said:
Think about it.
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A quote commonly used that has to do with Fry's memories on being offended by the desecration of graves. Fry has and continues to get angry and offended about homophobia and racism.

In short, a cute quote taken out of a very fuzzy context dealing with government hate speech laws.
 
JDSN said:
Ill go the extra mile and say that those offended at people getting offended at things surpass the people getting offended at things. Just read that Benedict Curumber thread, funny to see so much outrage at a non-outrageous situation perfectly handled by both parts.
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Yes. The number of people cracking jokes about trigger warnings seems to be many, many orders of magnitude greater than the number of people actually asking for trigger warnings for things like, well, pomegranates.
 
lanella said:
Yep, that is true, it is impossible to make an exhaustive list and be able to predict what could or could not upset an individual. But if someone requests adding a trigger warning to an article I wrote for example, I wouldn't have a problem doing that.
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Yeah, that'd be fine. Respect is a two way street though, and would rather be treated as a mature individual if that is the case. A polite 'by the way, this term may be a trigger' would have me add the warning quicker than 'trigger warning!'. Honestly, it may sound ridiculous, but even a little backstory (not anything detailed, but more than a straight up accusation) to why it is a trigger for that person might bring the whole situation to a more acceptable state.
 
Kraftwerk said:
Yeah, Maybe I should have worded the headline better. Most of the ones I have seen say trigger or allude to it. Its just frustrating to see people use that as a way to shut other people up.
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Right. And I think it is used that way sometimes. There are some social justice blogs that I read but don't comment on, because I can't think of a way that I could engage when I disagree where I won't be dismissed based on specious accusations about my motivations. I understand why this happens; there are a lot of concern trolls and disingenuous people who like to show up on social justice blogs and start JAQing off, so why should they believe that I'm on the up-and-up? But I do disagree sometimes or I want to see support for a statement that I think is tendentious, or whatever, and it would be nice if I could say express disagreement about the specific without being seen as being critical about the whole package.

I think another general problem in many insular communities online, where people of like mind are able to talk to one another in a sort of commiserative way, is that they are often unable to communicate their ideas to people who disagree. So, instead of explaining why they didn't like something, they jump immediately to exhortations to "examine your privilege" or talk about triggers - something that might be meaningful to the in-group, but absolutely meaningless to someone who isn't already versed in the jargon and sympathetic. I actually see this on GAF sometimes, where posters seem completely unaware that they're talking right past one another, while communicating nothing. I can't be the only one to have seen this.

Of course, a blog may not exist for the purposes of educating the clueless; maybe it is just a place for people to talk about issues that interest them in an informed way without dealing with the 101 crowd. Which is, of course, absolutely fine. But if something is addressed to the clueless, it ought to be addressed to the knowledge level of the clueless. If it's not, it's really something that is written for your primary audience, and it isn't something that's supposed to persuade someone who disagrees with you or at least isn't sure what they think.

Lambtron said:
Usually when I see this type of thing happening the person whose opinion is being "shut up" is being a dick. This strawman argument is always being used but I don't ever see receipts for proof.

Trigger warnings are innocuous but they really, really rile people up. My wife, our friend and I have been running a social justice panel at the last few cons we have gone to. We always use "content note" because it's more of a broad concept than triggers. We don't want people to be triggered OR uncomfortable. It's not that hard to not be a fuckhead.
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I prefer content notes because it doesn't make the mistake of conflating discomfort with PTSD, but it still allows people going in to make a decision about the sort of shit they're willing to deal with. I think they should be de rigueur in those spaces.
 
Someone on my Facebook feed wrote a bunch of trigger warnings before a rant, including 'colonialism'

I mean seriously
 
Yes, people are extremely inconsiderate, and ultimately rather sheltered from numerous other forms of tragedy, and often seem to forget that they exist.

Here's the thing, though: Life's kinda shit. (quick disclaimer that this is to those who complain the most about the least) Whining about it is OK at times, but pointless. Temporary stress relief. If you're that concerned about it and people upsetting you over it, then DO something about it. Because if you don't, what the fuck's going to change, you paranoid little weasel? Honestly, don't seek out sympathy. Seek out whoever pisses you off and stand up to them. Overcome your 'triggers' by being better than them. It'll be tough, but with a bit of courage and a lack of self-pity, you'll wonder why the hell you were afraid in the first place.

We don't get ANYWHERE by not changing or doing something about it. This has been proven time and time and time again by many people througjout human history. They're probably thinking 'If I stay quiet, it'll only take about another 30 years until I am accepted as an androgynous giraffe/whatever I want to be accepted as'. That's bullshit, and 30 or more years of pointless depression and inactivity for you. Change is tough, yeah. We all hate change. But fuck, it's better than accepting the miserable status quo. Technically, my trigger warning should be homophobia, of which I got bullied for in school. But guess fucking what? I walked up to one of the most annoying and nasty bullies of the lot, and punched him in the face. Didn't think about it, just did it. And it worked! No more neverending depression. Nothing was wrong with me, and d'you know why? Because I actually said so out loud. Noise for it's much better.

Of interest was that I actually became friends with the person I punched. He was kinda a dick in general. It turned out, however, that his dad had died earlier, and his mum wasn't exactly nice. He was one of the poor kids, really. Honestly, I pitied myself for getting bullied all the time, when even one of the bullies had it worse for me. So, standing up for yourself will open up new pathways, it'll show you new perspectives that you only secretly pretended to understand beforehand. Basically every area or website is an echo chamber, and one general opinion to be the know all and end all simply is not enough, no matter how right or wrong it is.

So yeah, you've probably got an awful lot of self-pity going for you. That shit doesn't wreck your life, it merely makes you think that your story is the only one that's worth a damn, no matter what you're kidding yourself otherwise. Consider the things you take for granted more often. Say 'Right, I've got the food front tackled! Now I won't starve to death, so I'll go and focus on getting my damn life into shape'. You have many fronts being fought for you already. How many around the world would kill for that privilege? You've got it, so don't squander it.

Get over your 'triggers' by confronting the source. You're pathetic and dramatising them to justify your worthless existence, accept it and get better from it. 'Oh, but I don't wanna be an inconsiderate asshole like everyone else is!' Think about it... They're allowed to be inconsiderate assholes because they're useful inconsiderate assholes to society. You're even less than that. So, work upwards from rock bottom.

Finally, I am aware that there are 2 types of people who will read this. Type 1 will go 'Wow, what an asshole. I bet they never did anything worthwhile'. Type 2 will say 'Tough Love's the most effective love there is! Let's go announce my newfound giraffe identity!' I'm telling you the truth; Type 2 is going places (and is also less numerous than Type 1). Forward or back, they'll be moving. They'll be moving ahead of Type 1. That's you, clod. Yes, you. Reading this. Your inactivity remains, and I only hope that this will be one of many things that'll make you change, before something awful happens to you, by accident or incident.

That said... If we're referring to the internet, there's always the off switch if it's annoying you too much. Consider THAT luxury, if you will.

EDIT: Sorry for the rant, I'm a tiny bit drunk. :p
 
JMDSO said:
Real triggering comes from trauma.

Rape, suicide, war, abuse, and so on.

Not a thread about cell phones.
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Yup. Triggering is a real thing.

Unfortunately, some people use the term for something they simply don't want to hear/read. Something that upsets them.

It's sort of like how some idiots say "LOL, I'm soooo OCD." They have no clue what the fuck they're talking about.
 
A I R F L O W said:
w1zCqnf.jpg
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You know, the picture literally makes her look crazy. Not even edited, it looks crazy.

article-2605888-1D24295700000578-152_634x498.jpg


Hmm. So Daily Mail is blocked? well, I'm sure it's easy enough to find for an intrepid researcher.

1402.png
 
Your mistake is to universalize your experience. While I do find the rush to shout "trigger" a bit shrill, I also believe it has a purpose and it's absolutely a real thing. And while it can get a little annoying, I think a little annoyance is a small price to pay if it means being a little more conscious and open to other people's experiences.
 
It depends on the circumstance, although I rarely have seen anyone say "You're triggering me" at all.

But certainly people with PTSD, from a wide range of sources, can be triggered by any number of things. As wide a variety as their trauma.

Edit: I've just done a skim using search fro triggering and found no usage that wasn't either making fun of it, or discussing it calmly in the context of PTSD (such as a discussion of it in the American Sniper thread). Can you PM me whatever example caused you to post this?
 
Mumei said:
Right. And I think it is used that way sometimes. There are some social justice blogs that I read but don't comment on, because I can't think of a way that I could engage when I disagree where I won't be dismissed based on specious accusations about my motivations. I understand why this happens; there are a lot of concern trolls and disingenuous people who like to show up on social justice blogs and start JAQing off, so why should they believe that I'm on the up-and-up? But I do disagree sometimes or I want to see support for a statement that I think is tendentious, or whatever, and it would be nice if I could say express disagreement about the specific without being seen as being critical about the whole package.
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I have nothing to say, except this post feels... surreal.

<3




Anyways, I don't think that "trigger" should be used for non-PTSD cases. Like that website that listed movie "triggers"? Little over the top, IMO.
 
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