Imagine that the words love, disappointment, and hate do not exist. Would you be aware of those feelings in the same way? Could you talk about them as effectively?

Imagine that the words love, disappointment, and hate do not exist. Would you be aware of those feelings in the same way? Could you talk about them as effectively?

One of the most treasured civil liberties is freedom of speech. At the same time, most people would agree that some forms of speech are hateful and demeaning. Do you think laws and policies can and should limit certain types of racist and sexist communication? If so, how should those limits be drafted to protect open debate? If not, how would you justify protecting language that some people find personally degrading? What listening strategies might help people debate these issues?

Recall a time when you adapted your language to converge with the norms of a particular speech community. What changes did you make? How successful were you in converging?