I think this is an important discussion to be had. The question of whether ideas like "trigger warnings" should be implemented in academia have good arguments on both sides. On a few of these issues I'm not sure where I stand yet and I'm very interested in hearing intelligent discourse from both sides over the next few years.
However, I don't think this is a particularly good article on the topic. It's riddled with character assassinations and complaints that fall low on the oft-cited-by-HN Graham hierarchy of argument[0]. Ironically this comment falls nearly as low because of what it is making reference to, but that's an existential issue for another day.
The author's writing paints "Stepford students" in a herdlike way, and many paragraphs open with imagery taking shots at their character. I generally love a bit of prose in an op-ed or news article, though I seem to disagree with a lot of HN readers there. But I think casual, drive-by insults are a bad idea when you're trying to point out something like group hypocrisy or make legitimate criticisms of a social movement.
However, I don't think this is a particularly good article on the topic. It's riddled with character assassinations and complaints that fall low on the oft-cited-by-HN Graham hierarchy of argument[0]. Ironically this comment falls nearly as low because of what it is making reference to, but that's an existential issue for another day.
The author's writing paints "Stepford students" in a herdlike way, and many paragraphs open with imagery taking shots at their character. I generally love a bit of prose in an op-ed or news article, though I seem to disagree with a lot of HN readers there. But I think casual, drive-by insults are a bad idea when you're trying to point out something like group hypocrisy or make legitimate criticisms of a social movement.
[0] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Graham%27...