Potentially multiple-positive psychology study

[ladycatherina.livejournal.com]

University of Manchester researchers look into how "hearing voices" can be a positive experience for some:

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060914_voices.htm

Inappropriate?

[sethrenn.livejournal.com]

(crossposted to our LJ)

When is it "rude" to step in to correct someone's misperceptions about plurality?

Is it rude to make your first post to a stranger's journal, or your first post to a community, to correct someone's misinformation?

Is it rude to post solely to correct someone's misinformation if the erroneous ideas and assumptions weren't the main theme of their post/entry/essay/whatever, and were mentioned just tangentially or to make a point (i.e. describing someone as "MPD" or "split personality" to refer to the fact that they couldn't make up their mind?).

Is it rude to post links to informational sources? Is it rude to post links to your own pages, or pages of friends, in the interest of clearing up misinformation?

See, personally, I don't think any of these things are rude. Free speech does not mean "I can say whatever I want but nobody else gets to respond to it." If you post something and put it in public view-- on a website, a blog, an LJ open to the public-- then, basically, you're leaving yourself open to comment from *anyone.* Including people who disagree with you, or whether or not you like what they have to say about you. You can't accuse someone of rudeness simply for stating an opinion you didn't like, or because you got upset that you were wrong.

However, a lot of people seem to think differently, based on the reactions we ourselves, and other people we know, have gotten from trying to provide corrections to assumptions, stereotypes, and misinformation in various places.

We've been accused of being rude, forcing our ideas on other people, trolling, attacking other people and making them feel bad, being assholes, and so forth.

I actually think the people playing the "my feelings were hurt" card are sort of key to the whole thing. Although I think the actual issue is discomfort rather than hurt feelings; hurt feelings are sort of a red herring, as whether something makes you feel bad has little bearing on whether it's true or not, but it is guaranteed to make some people feel guilty, back down, and start apologizing. The real issue is that many people don't like to be called on their assumptions. They don't like to have their comfortable beliefs challenged, and they don't want to re-adjust their beliefs, especially when they believe themselves to be highly educated on a certain subject, or when their beliefs help them feel assured of their own normalcy and sanity.


However, I'm really annoyed at having to step around people's delicate feelings when trying to correct misinformation or provide an alternate perspective. (And trying to correct ideas about multiplicity isn't the only offensive thing you can do; people howl if you try to talk about, for instance, being depressed-- as depressed as anyone has ever been-- and having your recovery from that not follow a psychiatry-approved pattern. But that's a rant for another day.) Is it rude or an imposition? I don't think it is, but what are other people's takes on the matter?