In this era of political correctness, I keep hearing the words “safe” and “comfortable” as goals set for the emotional climate on college campuses. The argument runs that college ought to be an insult-free zone, where, shielded from all offensive material, students are free to learn undamaged by the harshness of the larger outside society.
What I wonder is, what makes anyone believe that comfort or safety correlates with better learning and general “human flourishing”?
Almost twenty years ago I took a special, shortened Outward Bound course for women over 35. In the introduction, the facilitators explained that the purpose of the experience was to shift us out of our “comfort” zone into our “stretch” zone, while vigilantly keeping us from teetering into the “panic” zone where no learning at all could occur. For four days we hiked with a 50 pound pack, rappelled, carried our own water or harvested it from streams, slept under the stars – one night solo – the whole time “off the grid” without even a watch, while trying to “leave no trace.”
From my perspective, even in barely half a week, the course delivered as advertised. In forgoing comforts, I discovered I could hold up under circumstances I never would have imagined.
Outward Bound never converted me to an outdoorswoman, but the rubric of the three zones has stayed with me all this time. Of course, we all need to make a place of comfort in our lives. This is what we call “home” – where we can let our hair down and just be. When home and family fail to furnish this level of support, disaster awaits.
The absence of unconditional love thrusts most of us into the “panic” zone. What an insight that no learning occurs here! Surely political correctness originated in a desire to address the harsh effects of panic zone inducers like prejudice and bullying.
But the most valuable thing I discovered out in the wilderness was how large our stretch zone is. Even ordinary humans can do amazing things under the strain of necessity. And when we do them, it feels great!
The upshot remains that while it’s good to have a roof over our heads to retreat to, we need to live and work in our stretch zone – where we grow and strengthen because we are vulnerable. The insulation of political correctness actually robs students of the growth they could experience in this stretch zone.
As the Garden of Eden story demonstrates, comfortable doesn’t end up keeping us safe.
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