Offended: Can Being Offended Stop Someone From Growing?

While something can take place at one moment in time, it doesn’t mean that this will be the case at another. As a result of this, what one generation spent a lot of time doing another generation might have no interest in doing it.

When this relates to something that is destructive, it could be said that this will be a good thing. It can show that this generation is better informed than the one before them, and this is something that is to be expected.

One Direction

Based on this, it would be accurate to say that each generation is smarter and wiser than the generation before them. Therefore, if there is a problem, the people who are not even born yet will put it to an end.

However, although this can sound right, life is clearly not this black and white. If someone was to look back on history, they may find that certain things have improved overtime, but they could also see that certain things have gone the other way.

Devolution

Due to this, someone from one generation can wonder what has happened to the people who were born many years after them. For example, their generation may have fought for something and they could find that these people are trying to go back to how things were.

Still, this is not to say that these people are consciously aware of the kind of consequences that their actions are creating and are likely to create as time passes. If they were aware of the effect their actions are having, they might change their behaviour.

One Focus

At the same time, they might not care about what happens in the future and their only interest could be to fulfil their own needs. It is then not going to be possible for them to take a step back and to reflect.

One thing that this relates to is the area of free speech, and how this is something that has come under attack in recent years. One outlook that a lot of people support is that this is something that can only take place if it doesn’t cause offence.

A Good idea

This then places people’s feelings above all else, and it is then going to mean that they will need to walk on egg shells. On the surface, this is something that can sound like a good idea; especially if someone is able to empathise with others.

When they can do this, they are not going to want to cause other people to experience emotional distress. On the other hand, if someone is unable to empathise with others, they are unlikely to care about other people’s feelings.

Impossible

However, even if one is able to empathise with others and they don’t go out of their way to offend them, it doesn’t mean that they will never offend them. What this comes down to is that whether another person is offended or not is largely out of their control.

The reason for this is that there is what they say and do on one hand, and how another person interprets these things on the other. Ergo, the only way one would no longer offend others is if they were no longer alive.

Another Angle

So even though someone can believe that they should do everything they can to make sure that they don’t offend others and encourage other people to do the same thing, it could be said that they are completely misguided. If anything, they should think about how they can’t control how other people feel.

And when the chance arises, they should encourage people to take responsibility for how they feel. Through taking this approach, they will no longer be someone who tries to erode free speech.

Caught Up

Yet if one is unable to take responsibility for how they feel and they believe that other people define what is taking place within them, they are unlikely to change their behaviour. Along with this, it won’t be hard for them to find people who have the same outlook.

This is something that can take place through going online, and one will find a number of different websites and videos, for instance, that support their outlook. What this shows is that while the internet has given people a platform to make a positive difference in the world, it has also given them the opportunity to do the complete opposite.

Two Sides

There is then going to be the effect that one has on others and there is going to be how they are affected by their inability to contain their emotional experience. For one thing, it is going to be a challenge for one to let in new information.

As when they come across someone who offends them, they are not going to look into why they feel offended. The only thing they will do, after experiencing a strong emotional reaction, is to do everything they can to silence them.

Online

Or if they come across someone online, they could end up blocking them or trying to have them banned, for instance. What this shows is that one can have far more control online than they do offline.

Even so, the control that this gives them can be more than enough, and what takes place online can affect someone offline. This is why people have been arrested for expressing their views on social media.

Emotionally Stunted

And along with having a closed mind and not being able to see other points of view, it is also going to mean that one will end up staying at their current level of emotional development. It then won’t matter how many years pass as their emotional age won’t match up with their chronological age.

This undeveloped part of them will then continue to control their life and their ability to think rationally will be out of action. They will then carry on trying to control what others say in order to regulate their own emotions.

Awareness

If one can relate to this and they no longer want to blame other people for what is taking place within them, it might be necessary for them to work with a therapist. During this time, they will gradually begin to develop their mental and emotional strength.