Closer to the latter except I think people are becoming sensitized to things that wouldn’t bother them otherwise (it gives you a kind of social capital to fit in and list a trigger). I can see it playing out in the community.
I would say some safety tools are attempts to formalize normal social behavior and boundary setting
and my contention is the formalization may not be a good thing
So, you're saying people are spuriously listing triggers, because it gives them extra leverage at a game table? That seems ... unlikely.
it can be a problem. Suggestion is powerful as a social influencer. You can end up creating a social script people learn to follow (it is an extreme example but look at stuff like the witch trials or witch craze where people who weren’t the subjects of magic, performed as if they were). Again this causes problems 1) because these performative displays are disruptive but 2) because they create skepticism for these issues where they really exist. Just observing what is going on in the hobby the past several years, this is how safety tools appear to be panning out in my view
As I’ve said, safety tools come in a variety of forms and degrees of formality, and different tools suit different folks. You’ve successfully identified the ones that work for you and you put them into practice without even thinking about it.I would say some safety tools are attempts to formalize normal social behavior and boundary setting
Oh, I think it is extremely likely. I don’t think people are consciously being deceptive. I think people are learning to behave this way because it seems expected and is socially rewarded. And what they are checking off may be real at a very minimal level (they might dislike spiders and hate the idea of one on their arm, but it doesn’t rise up to the level of being a real mental health issue). Essentially I think it lowers the bar too much
What’s normal is relative. I’ve watched people pick their nose at the game table and eat it. Adults. With families and jobs. I’d much rather have a written list to point to rather than winging it and hoping what I think is normal matches up with what others think of as normal.I would say some safety tools are attempts to formalize normal social behavior and boundary setting
If people aren't being consciously deceptive, then they're misunderstanding either their own mental health or the point and purpose of safety tools.
So what? If someone wants to check a box and tell the DM no spiders, what does it matter how much of a mental health issue that is? Who cares? The player doesn’t like spiders and so no spiders. What does it matter?
That is fair, but I think it is inaccurate to call that a safety tool: to me that seems more like a social compatibility tool
