Elephant in the room : Why hide from what's important?
By: David K. Every
 eople have asked me why I occasionally throw political, philosophical or religious style articles on a technical site. A few ask why I don't just stick to things I know? What I usually ask them is why can't I know a lot about technical and other issues? People aren't one-dimensional creatures. Society has gotten so politically correct that they avoid discussing the issues that really matter to people because it might offend some; ignoring that self-censorship prevents people from bonding and understanding each other better. So we have these taboos against issues like politics, race, religion, ethics, sex, or other things that people really care about; which does more harm to society than good.
Long ago, I decided that the harm to society, groups and individuals in not discussing these issues, far outweighed the theoretical advantages of false-harmony and artificial civility. And so while I don't feel the need to challenge every norm or more that society holds, neither will I avoid talking about things that are important to me or others on the off chance that someone might be offended.
The whole point of this is that humans bond through shared experiences and communications. You can't get close to people by dodging the delicate issues all the time. So while it considered crass, and there are certainly some people that are so emotive that you don't want to discuss issues that they feel impassioned about, we need to talk about things that impact us, and should learn to disagree without anger, fear or hate. But that takes practice. So let's as society practice, control ourselves, listen, learn and grow. And not be afraid to talk about the elephants in the room. 
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