I would agree but I don't think those things can be reduced to just being about judging by appearances. They are different and deeper forms of prejudice. But it seems to me that appearance is probably a more significant factor in how society treats you in modern Western societies than any other place or time in…

I don't think I will be surprised unless you've found a tribe that can't tell the difference between animate and inanimate objects. I'm simply pointing out that humans instinctively make snap judgments all the time as part of the mind's processing of the information that it constantly receives. Those processes extend…

I'm talking about categorisation as an aspect of human cognitive processes. In that context some categories probably are universal. 'Animate' and 'inanimate' for example. Clearly concepts of body shape are culturally conditioned. But the process of making those kind of judgments is central to human cognition, learning…

I disagree that people expressing opinions, even about trivial matters or hurtful ones, is something that can or should be reduced.

The 'entitlement' to voice an opinion… isn't that an entitlement we all have?

The point is that whether you say 'fat' or 'plus-sized' you are vocalizing the same judgment. And any alternative word would do the same and consequently probably offend, even if it was coined to be less offensive (like 'plus-size'). Which suggests to me that the use of language is not the real issue.

I'm not saying you have to vocalize every thought. Simply that it's inevitable that language reflects the way we think about things.

What progress has been made in that regard?

See?

Classification and categorisation are fundamental to how the mind makes sense of the world. It's true of everyone.

Snap superficial judgments are a fundamental part of all human interaction. They aren't going anywhere.

Everyone makes those kind of superficial judgments constantly when they interact with others. Language just reflects human nature in that regard.

Everyone constantly makes judgments about people based on superficial characteristics. It's just human nature. If you see someone with visible rolls of excess fat then you instantly characterize them as fat. "Plus size" is just an attempt to make it sound a bit nicer, but as the article suggests it doesn't work,…

What word do you suggest?