Meaning Well: Anti Irony #1

[substitute]

One of the worst things you can call someone now is "well-meaning

Comments

[maps_or_guitars]

I'm-a post a link to this. Thank you - this is a great post.

[kiteflier98]

:)

[vanmojo]

Well said, sir...

It has been odd to me, how the term "do-gooder" has become something of a perjorative... I think you correctly identified the wrong-headed cognitive frames that make people think that "well meaning" and "do-gooder" is actually a bad thing.

Thank you for coming down on the side of "good." We need all the help we can get right now.

mojo sends

[hotelsamurai]

Hear, hear.

[hweimei]

Well said. But I have a slight reservation regarding the terms "passive" versus "aggressive." To me, this would seem to applaud inactivity in the face of monstrous wrongdoing. Better antonyms for "aggressive" would be "peaceful" or "laid-back," I feel.

[halfjack]

I agree -- the problem is that "passive" doesn't really oppose "aggressive". It opposes "active" and I think we want active solutions, just not always aggressive active ones. "Compassionate" might better oppose "aggressive".

[substitute]

I stand by "passive." Sometimes it's best to let the other guy hit you, right in the face. Sometimes it's best not to intervene even when you feel a sense of righteousness. Sometimes passivity is a virtue. I think we are being told too often that it's never appropriate to be passive.

There's a medical maxim for dealing with abdominal pain, which is mysterious and often resolves itself, and may get far worse with "aggressive" treatment. Young doctors are told: Don't just do something. Stand there.

[sissyhips]

But the word is still limited, in that it doesn't express the very active principle behind this kind of standing still. It is still one half of a problematic duality. What about Active Receptivity?