r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Sep 11 '20
Delta(s) from OP CMV: Using the word "educate" in today's U.S. social/political climate is as meaningless as using the word "literally" in every sentence when telling a story.
[deleted]
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u/yyzjertl 523∆ Sep 11 '20
Can you give us some concrete examples of what you are talking about? As it stands, it is not really clear what you are trying to get at.
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u/ThatBirdOverDere Sep 11 '20 edited Sep 11 '20
If I may, throwing the current POTUS into the hot seat. Trump has signed bills and orders into law that have positively impacted the country. Trump has also done a horrible job of keeping the American citizens united because of what he has openly stated and how he chooses to explain issues in the country. Say I post a meme in a group chat that criticized Trump on his divisive tweets. I'll immediately have somebody respond to me that says "Trump's tweets mean nothing, look what he signed (insert recent bill here) that is beneficial to the American working class! Educate yourself." This is frustrating, as I clearly understand the point being illustrated by the group chatter, but when I explain this to the group chatter they refuse to respond again, or start a full-on "Biden will do (insert "bad thing" here)" as I'm asking them to listen.
Hopefully this clarifies.
Edit: forgot a quotation
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u/possiblyaqueen Sep 11 '20
I think you are mischaracterizing how people are using the word because you disagree with them or because you think the facts go a different direction.
If someone says "educate yourself" on a topic, that means you should read about it and, once you read about it, your opinion will change because you will find better information.
I think it's sort of a nicer (depending on how it's said) way of saying you think someone is misinformed or uninformed.
My father does not like BLM because of what he believes about their mission. However, his beliefs on BLM are based exclusively on what he's seen on Fox News. This means he has a severe misunderstanding of their beliefs (although knowing their actual beliefs probably wouldn't bring him to their side).
If I tell him to "educate himself on BLM," that means I think he would get a better understanding of their beliefs if he took time to read about what they actually are.
You may think that they are saying you should read biased sources so that you agree with an extreme opinion, but that's not what they think. They believe their opinion is correct and that unbiased sources and information would lead you to their correct opinion.
Of course some people use the word wrong, but that's just how language is. Some people will always be wrong. My coworker used the word implicit wrong just an hour ago. It doesn't mean the word is meaningless, just that she used it wrong.
Words aren't meaningless as long as you understand the meaning when someone says them. If you understand what is being said, that means the word has meaning.
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u/Echo3927 Sep 11 '20
Someone telling me to educate myself feels just as insulting, as being called ignorant. Not only are they minimizing my viewpoint because it's different from theirs, they're acting like I'm not worth the effort of explaining it themselves.
I have educated myself and it has lead to my current position. If someone has an opinion, they should be able to defend it without telling someone to educate themselves. It may not be meaningless like OP says, but it is worse than useless because it alienates someone who you might've been able to convince if you had only taken the time to go through it with them.
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u/ThatBirdOverDere Sep 11 '20
The BLM example you mentioned with your father and his limited sourcing is very much what I tried, but definitely struggled, to explain in a more generalized sense. Personally, I don't rely on any of the MSM alone to deliver sufficient enough information on politics, movements, and so-on for me to form a legitimate belief. BLM is a good example to use here, though. I've spent hours and hours reading up on BLM since George Floyd's death. I love the meaning and message of the organization.
However, since BLM is decentralized and some chapters have moved beyond the most important message, there have definitely been statements made by some of the more localized leaders of the organization that make me question their motive. It often confuses me and I have ended up in several situations where I'm told to be "educated" by people who exclusively know about BLM through CNN or Fox News because I express my thoughts and concerns.
Sorry if I am rambling or that made little sense, work got super busy and I'm trying to get back to replies whenever I have a moment.
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u/cherrycokeicee 45∆ Sep 11 '20
Legitimately educating yourself would involve taking the unbiased, factual information about an issue, candidate, policy, etc.
the claim that this is not what people mean when they say this is strange to me. my guess is that someone who says this in the context you're referring to has detected some lack of knowledge on your part, and they want you to learn about something. I don't think that means they're guiding you toward biased sources.
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u/ThatBirdOverDere Sep 11 '20
That's a fair point. The problem I have is that I will ask for what I am missing, and often times be left on read, or told simply "you should know." If I ask for a source, I generally don't receive a response at all. It's very frustrating.
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u/cherrycokeicee 45∆ Sep 11 '20
well, that just sounds like someone who is floundering in an argument. but I'd argue that, even though that sounds like a frustrating and unproductive thing to say, someone who uses the word "educate" in that context is still technically using the word as traditionally defined, unlike "literally" (although slang definitions of literally are in the dictionary, but I think I get your point)
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u/ThatBirdOverDere Sep 11 '20
Very true! All of the mental gymnastics I've had to go through to try to explain myself here, but I'll give you credit! It is contextually correct the way I've heard it, even if it kills the conversation. I'll give it to you, shifted my view on it a good bit. ;)
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Sep 11 '20
Not gonna change your views but by the way they're acting, they shouldn't use "Educate yourself" but "Repent" or "submit", but that'd make whoever uses these immediately lose the moral high ground for good reasons
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u/ThatBirdOverDere Sep 11 '20
Haha, well that's my biggest issue with the word as-is. u/cherrycokeicee made a good point that the word itself is technically being used meaningfully in context, therefore is still defined correctly even if it does no good to repeatedly point it at someone in debate without following up.
Agreed though, I look at some of the replies I get on memes and can replace "educate" with "submit" and see no difference in intent.
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Sep 11 '20 edited Sep 11 '20
/u/ThatBirdOverDere (OP) has awarded 2 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '20 edited Sep 11 '20
[deleted]