Response to Peter Boghossian

Although he comes across as being an aggressive SOB with a god-complex, some of the ideas and teaching methods Boghossian uses are intelligent.

When we initially started discussing Boghossian's ideas, I felt uncomfortable. I felt that there was a difference between what I wanted to say and what I should have said. I felt as though what I was thinking was incorrect.

Then I began to question myself. Why are your thoughts invalid just because they are different from what people think we should perceive? Why are you getting uncomfortable talking about how you feel?

This brought me to another question When I learn about the world - am I learning about it from the different perspectives of different people?

Or

Am I learning history from a liberal teacher whose perspective is lensed in one direction? Am I learning ESS from teachers who do not validate arguments that climate change does not exist and who believe the earth is only round?

Even if these teachers back up their claims and can make me understand the other perspective, or find the reasoning behind why they have their beliefs, I do not believe that I am getting exposed to people whose views are 'different' from the 'ideal' ideologies.
I have never met a flat-earther, I have never met a Stalinist, I have never met an anti-climate changer.

Although the IB is said to be giving me a 'well-rounded' education. sometimes I feel as if though I am being put in a box and if I try to jump out of it I might fall to my death. Yes - a little dramatised, but sometimes I genuinely wonder whether the IB is not affected by the sensitised social views (not saying it's bad, it's just not well-rounded then) of this era.

I now understand Boghossian's idea of a 'Social Justice factory'.
And even though I know that it is not my teachers' intentions to sway our opinions in a direction, simply them being from that direction makes impressionable students like me, sway in exactly that direction.

I want to live in a world where we can face issues, not neglect them. I want to be able to see a neo-Nazi and ask them questions, without thinking that if I ask something, I will be seen as a sympathiser by my mates. I want to be able to ask questions that people from my sheltered generation will find uncomfortable. Not so that they feel that way, but because I believe that it is important for a student to have a well-rounded education, in which he studies all sides of an argument.

This makes me think about my university applications even more. I need to find a university that will allow me to be exposed to all sorts of people, not only those who come out of the so-called 'justice factories'.

To be honest, I do wish that sometimes we would meet people of 'different' backgrounds with 'different' mentalities and 'different' ideologies, just to understand where they come from and how they think, directly from them. Sometimes I wish I was born 10 years before I was born, so 1994, so that I would live in a world where people weren't so sensitive.

Another discussion that took place then, was about trigger warnings. I believe that in some situations it would be necessary to have trigger warnings as it can bring up traumatic memories. For example, if you have a Neo-Nazi come into class, where there are Jewish students whose grandparents suffered during the Second World War and are still shocked by the memories, it could be hurtful for them to be listening to his ideologies. However, even with the trigger warnings, I do think that it is important to be able to listen to viewpoints opposing yours in the sense that you might be able to handle it better in case it happens again. If, for instance, a Pakistani conservative came into my history class and slandered India, my home country, I would obviously feel hurt, however, it would help me understand what their thoughts are so that I can create a higher tolerance to that kind of hate, or even be able to speak back.

I believe that even with the trigger warnings, it is beneficial for children my age, to try to face their traumas, because if kept behind a shelter, we are never going to understand how the world truly works. By being exposed to these different viewpoints, children will learn that there are always multiple sides to the story and that they are not being forced to follow one path or one journey in their lives.