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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5472216" data-attributes="member: 59082">Raven, I first want to say that I am not interested in an argument, so if this is going that direction I'd rather not waste my (or your) time. I think you are not understanding what I mean by the idea of being "threatened by universality," so I will try to explain. First of all, it was not an ad hominem. I was not attacking or insulting anyone - not only was the phrase not addressed towards anyone in particular, but it wasn't even an insult or an attack. Nor was I trying to belittle anyone by saying that they are "threatened by universality," which I would say applies to me in certain contexts.Second of all, you didn't quote the whole sentence, which was:"For whatever reason, some people seem threatened by the idea of  universality, perhaps because of fears that it inherently equates with  Borg-like loss of individuality and conformity." If universality equates with Borgism, then that's a very legitimate fear, no? I would even say that most people are threatened by the idea of universality on some level because we, in this day and age, are extremely individualistic - our sense of individuality is very precious to us and I would argue that on a deep, existential level we fear losing it, because in some ways it equates with death.Does this make better sense now? Do you see how this was not an attack, therefore your assertion below is irrelevant?Of course I don't imagine that people disagree with me because they are threatened by universality! What do you take me for, a moron? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> I am saying that people shy away from ideas of universality--especially when they are clothed in stereotypes and categorization, and thus often for very valid reasons. But sometimes they (we) mistake a "healthy" universal for an "unhealthy" one, and thus react negatively (and fearfully) unnecessarily. Cute. But yeah, I am threatened by the idea of universality when it takes on Borg-like tones: "Prepare to be assimilated!" Comform or die, this is the One Way that things Must Be Done; etc etc.But I referred to that thread because I talked about the dynamic of people (including myself, mind you) being defensive when no offense was intended, that's why I said that your reaction is an example of what I was talking about in the 4th post. You were being defensive about something that wasn't even an attack.Anyhow, I apologize for not being clear in my meaning. I hope that this post better clarifies what I was trying to say.</blockquote>

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