Trigger Warnings: A Mask on One’s Mind By James Reed
Trigger warnings, a popular device of the woke Left, alert readers to potentially troubling material in some content. Do such warnings help, troubled Leftists? A study, “A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Trigger Warnings, Content Warnings, and Content Notes,” by Victoria M. E. Bridgland, Payton J. Jones & Benjamin W. Bellet, Flinders University, Harvard University, has examined the empirical psychological literature on this question, and has concluded that such warnings don’t do as advertised. “We present the results of a meta-analysis of all empirical studies on the effects of these warnings. Overall, we found that warnings have no effect on affective responses to negative material nor on educational outcomes (i.e., comprehension). However, warnings reliably increase anticipatory affect. Findings on avoidance were mixed, suggesting either that warnings have no effect on engagement with material, or that they increase engagement with negative material under specific circumstances.” Thus, trigger warnings are in a way, self-undermining.
US comedian from the Left, Bill Mahar, has waded in on this topic, saying that trigger warnings are a sign of national weakness, and are like wearing masks on one’s mind. Well put; nice post-Covid mandate metaphor.
“Comedian Bill Maher has had enough of trigger warnings and the woke college students forcing them on everyone.
In Friday’s episode of his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, the comedian castigated woke culture and its deleterious effects on the country, citing a study that found trigger warning not only don’t work but actually could be more harmful than helpful.
“People wonder why the younger generations have so much anxiety, it’s this stuff. Lots of stuff makes us uncomfortable,” he said.
“You know what makes me uncomfortable? This b*llsh*t: People who start every conversation with ‘As a person who,’ ‘As a survivor of.’ I’m triggered every time I see a trigger warning, because I’m reminded of how weak my country has become. It’s like wearing a mask on your mind.”
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