If certain words are to be censored, please make it optional. This way no one gets to decide for other people.
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The parent comment sums it up well. I like the surprise of interesting usages (less so their readings), but would welcome the ability to block a word when it hits too close to home. I sigh whenever I encounter 脳死 due to personal reasons. Doesn’t mean it’s not a valid vocabulary word, but I’m learning Japanese for fun, not to be reminded of tragedy.
The life-is-tough response just exposes one’s lack of compassion or inexperience. We don’t need trigger warnings on every word, but the ability to exclude a word when you don’t want to see it again is not an outrageous suggestion.
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I completely agree with you, but I get the feeling that virtually everyone here is all for the ability to exclude words or implementing a safe mode - that would definitely just be a win-win for everyone.
What appears to have some people upset (and posting potentially inconsiderate comments) is the possibility of the words in question being completely removed for everyone, arguably akin to censorship
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I’m going to suggest that you’ve brought some baggage with you to this debate that’s getting in the way of you seeing it properly. I’m not the first to point out that no-one here has suggested neutering language, censorship or curbing anyone else’s free speech - just greater user-controlled options on a private education platform.
I also doubt I’m in the minority in working in an office with 1) a lot of downtime and 2) a fairly strong no-phone policy. Of course no-one needs to do reviews at work, but tell me again why options to suit more users - on a platform that has so far embraced third party applications to tailor the experience, no less - is a bad thing?
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Can people in this thread please look up the word “censorship” in a dictionary? Removing a word from a language learning app is not censorship. Your rights are not being violated if WK decides to remove a word out of regard for the people using their platform.
Also if people could stop conflating trigger words with being “offended” that would be great. The two things have nothing to do with each other. It’s also not the same thing as being safe for work although adding a SFW mode would be helpful as well.
All that said I certainly would like to see a solution that doesn’t involve removing the words entirely but allows people to opt out or be forewarned that they might be running into upsetting words. I don’t know what the best solution for this problem is but I think it’s worth it for WK to find a way to accomodate people here.
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Sure I’ll look it up.
censor
censored; censoring\ ˈsen(t)-sə-riŋ , ˈsen(t)s-riŋ \
Definition of censor (Entry 2 of 2)
: to examine in order to suppress (see SUPPRESS sense 2) or delete anything considered objectionable
also : to suppress or delete as objectionable
Nothing there about rights being violated. It’s simply the suppression and removal of information that is considered objectionable.
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Not any baggage, per se, aside from a general annoyance at how there are absolutely efforts nowadays to sterilize language in order to avoid offending anyone. And while I don’t think this topic was an effort to do such q thing, I do believe that it is a symptom stemming from the same source.
As for an option for individual users to hide vocabulary, while I think its silly and juvenile I’m not necessarily opposed to it so long as it doesn’t affect anyone else. But the TC didn’t make that clear. He asked if there was any way to get rid of the word which, to me, sounds like an appeal to WK to remove the word entirely.
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absolutely efforts nowadays to sterilize language in order to avoid offending anyone
No there are not. This line of thinking is absolute BS dreamed up by right wingers who don’t want to be held accountable for the fact that the way we choose to speak can actively harm people.
Yawn /10char
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“No baggage, just a preconceived notion of what this is really about that’s totally clouding my judgement.”
As others have said, respecting the existence of trigger warnings and avoiding offence are two entirely separate things. The fact you describe one as a “symptom” of the other belies that you are mistakenly conflating them.
As others have pointed out, there are numerous style guides by various publications on how to approach the topic of suicide sensitively, because of how upsetting it can be to some people. You’re welcome to think and say “I don’t care if others are upset” as is afforded by your free speech rights, but don’t try to kid yourself and others that this is a principled response to some amorphous threat to censorship (or be surprised that people might call you out for being inconsiderate).
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As a Buddhist, I reject the notion that people have a right (or even a remote possibility) to go through life without being triggered or offended. It’s part of the human experience that can’t be avoided, and is one of the many forms of suffering that characterize our existence as animals on a deeply impefect planet. I have close friends and family members who have committed suicide, and in my role as a priest I have tried to help others who have ultimately taken their lives. Nonetheless, it would never make sense to me to try to expunge the mention of suicide from my life. Attempting to remove triggers and offense will never lead to hapiness becuase it simply can never be succesful. It will thus only lead to more furstration and disappointment when one inevitably come upon the next offending word or concept they feel they by right should not experience. I wish we could live in a Pure Land without such suffering, but in reality the only way we can overcome such suffering is by learning to be comfortable with it. Some cases, like the use of a viciously deragatory word, may of course truly require action, but even still, accepting is not the same as condoning.
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What are you even talking about? The very next sentence I go on to say that I do NOT think that that was the TC’s intention. However while we’re on the subject, I did not erroneously conflate the two. I hate being a pedant who breaks out the dictionary in defense of an argument, but here we go.
Offend: : to cause (a person or group) to feel hurt, angry, or upset by something said or done.
Trigger: : to cause an intense and usually negative emotional reaction in (someone)
Obviously so-called triggers fall under the general umbrella of offensive subjects. They’re certainly not 100% synonymous terms but there is a great deal of overlap.
And again, I’m not fundamentally opposed to the introduction of a feature that allows individual users to hide certain words that they find objectionable, so long as it doesn’t impact the rest of the paying users. However that was not what the TC originally said. Also let’s be real here: if it comes down to either re-programming the site to introduce such a niche feature or removing a single word from the study list, WK would probably go with the latter simply because it’s so much easier. And lo and behold, we have a WK mod in this very thread saying that they are going to review the word to decide whether or not it should remain.
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I’m glad we’ve found common ground - I think we’re in agreement on the main point of this topic.
As for definitions, “trigger warning” is a specific psychological term of art which has its origins in “triggering flashbacks” in PTSD. Sadly the term has been co-opted in modern discourse as a slur to portray anyone who feels strongly about anything as a hysterical wreck - but the purpose of trigger warnings is nothing to do with preventing moral outrage, which is usually where debates around offence stem from (and the difference I was trying to stress).
I also agree, not least as someone who sees terms like it every day in my work, that it’d be a shame if words like 飛び込み自殺 were removed from the WaniKani database entirely. However, the inconvenience I would feel in its removal is nothing compared the distress that repeated exposure might cause to a minority of users. I’d personally rather the Devs prioritized those users needs over my own, when drawing lines on what’s included and how best to present it (as it seems they are - thanks guys!) rather than simply not caring.
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I generally agree on the unfortunate fate of the term Trigger, it being a legitimate medical term, which is a large part of why I’m often so bored and dismissive of the discussion or inclusion of trigger warnings or the removal of objectionable material in modern discourse (for example, the scrubbing of books such as Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird from our pedagogies). I think the term and the way its used have been watered down to practical uselessness.
As for the rest of your comment, while I certainly understand where you (and TC) are coming from, I will never agree that removing information is the correct approach, particularly on an educational platform. Because like I said before, where do you draw the line?
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This assumes that the way Wanikani is at this very moment is somehow the default, and deviating from it is the first step of removal of avoiding a term based on “offense” ever. You’re not noticing that a line is ALWAYS being drawn. I mean, slurs exist in Japanese, super vulgar terms exist, etc. But they aren’t here. The line has already been drawn; you can’t appeal to avoiding drawing that line. Plenty of information was “removed” in that it was never added in the first place.
I reject the notion that people have a right (or even a remote possibility) to go through life without being triggered or offended.
I want to call this out because this idea is a strawman. Nobody is asking that someone be able to go through life without ever encountering anything distressing, what we are asking is that people be considerate, and give people who may have PTSD triggers or other trauma around certain language the ability to avoid that languge if it’s not necessary, and prepare themselves accordingly if it is necessary. It’s about showing compassion for these people, something I understand Buddhists to take very seriously.
People with PTSD triggers often say that if they are warned ahead of time that they’re going to encounter something triggering, it’s usually much less distressing and they can push through it, and if they’re not in the headspace to engage with it right now they can walk away and come back to it when they’re in a better mindset to approach it. This is the entire point of trigger warnings, something that has been lost amidst the false equivalency with “taking offense” and “censorship” and the inconsiderate strawman that people are oversensitive snowflakes who want to go their entire lives without ever encountering challenging or upsetting ideas.
Personally I agree with people that completely removing potentially upsetting words is not the best approach, and that WK can create tools to allow people to remove such words themselves or provide some warning so that people are able to engage with these words as part of their learning. I hope they choose to do so. But even if they simply decide to remove the words that’s a better solution than doing nothing and telling people to just suck it up.
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I may have missed something but nobody is saying to remove the word suicide (自殺).
The Tofugu team already “decides for” us. This is not supposed to be a complete dictionary.
Jisho has over 15 words for different ways to take your own life and that’s just counting the ones that end with *自殺 and describe the method of death.
Wanikani has: suicide (自殺), a euphemism for suicide (自決), and a word for one specific type of suicide (飛び込み自殺).
I would hardly say we’re being “censored” because we’re not learning the other words…(Such as 過労自殺 suicide brought on by excessive overwork which is definitely a Japanese cultural concept.)
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they also often say the opposite. research is unfortunately far from being clear on that (x). you could even make the argument learning those terms in this neutral language learning setting (not via newspapers) and being minimally exposed repeatedly is a form of therapy, since controlled exposure is a form of treatment.
i still like the idea of a SFW / PG13 mode the best not only because of the term(s) discussed in this thread. i’m almost always in favour of having more choices.
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I would also like to see a SFW feature implemented if possible.
I’d like if it could be switched on and off.
I personally do plan on learning all vocab on Wanikani, but sometimes I’m doing reviews in public spaces (in Japan) and I feel kind of awkward when sexual or violent words show up on my phone or computer.
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I have had friends who are victims of suicide and I’ve dealt with depression my entire life. But regardless of that, if this word offends you maybe you shouldn’t come to Japan or read Japanese news. There are many things here that are far more problematic. That said, I wouldn’t mind a SFW filter.
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