> I'm going to take the minority position here (no pun intended), and say that I think these initiatives are in fact helpful and important.
I partially agree. Some of the suggestions for changes are good in some contexts, but there are also many problems with this list, too.
(There are also some things I would suggest to change to be improved even though the existing words are not "racist", but they tend to ignore such things; nevertheless, I think they can sometimes be helpful, too (e.g. I think "megagram" is better than "tonne").)
> It has completely reaffirmed my belief in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis--our language influences how we think.
Of course it does affect it at least partially, but it seems that the language has a greater effect on the ability to communicate than it does on the ability to think; some things you can think of but not communicate very well, due to the language being in use.
> Intentionally changing the words and phrases we use is one of the most powerful tools we have for changing our behavior, and correcting both logical and social biases.
It can help, if it makes it clearer and more precise. Sometimes that is the case, but sometimes not. (And, sometimes, using more words just makes it too long, rather than actually being good.)
However, bias is not only due to words (although it does have an effect, especially when communicating), and using different words can ahve different bias, so it does not truly completely avoid a bias.
I partially agree. Some of the suggestions for changes are good in some contexts, but there are also many problems with this list, too.
(There are also some things I would suggest to change to be improved even though the existing words are not "racist", but they tend to ignore such things; nevertheless, I think they can sometimes be helpful, too (e.g. I think "megagram" is better than "tonne").)
> It has completely reaffirmed my belief in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis--our language influences how we think.
Of course it does affect it at least partially, but it seems that the language has a greater effect on the ability to communicate than it does on the ability to think; some things you can think of but not communicate very well, due to the language being in use.
> Intentionally changing the words and phrases we use is one of the most powerful tools we have for changing our behavior, and correcting both logical and social biases.
It can help, if it makes it clearer and more precise. Sometimes that is the case, but sometimes not. (And, sometimes, using more words just makes it too long, rather than actually being good.)
However, bias is not only due to words (although it does have an effect, especially when communicating), and using different words can ahve different bias, so it does not truly completely avoid a bias.