I remember watching a Newsnight debate between a reporter from the now-defunct News of the World and the reporter from the Guardian who revealed the extent of the NotW phone-hacking scandal. The NotW reporter kept accusing the Guardian guy of shoddy journalism for getting two facts about the story wrong, even though the vast majority of the story was uncontested. This struck me as contemptible, not because the accusations were incorrect, but because they were clearly motivated by pique at being called out (and perhaps a desire for deflecting the issue) rather than genuine concern about the quality of journalism. I wouldn’t have minded, in fact I would have been appreciative, if someone not involved with the scandal had pointed out the Guardian’s mistakes.
I got the same sense reading gwern’s response. Perhaps startling shouldn’t have published those logs—in fact, he certainly shouldn’t have published them in their original form—but hearing that from gwern as a response, in lieu of any serious demonstration of regret or contrition, struck me as contemptible (to be clear, I find the action comptemptible; I still have fairly high, though much diminished, regard for gwern). So from my perspective, at least, gwern didn’t do his reputation any favors by pointing this out. Similarly for not apologizing. Also, I don’t see how apologizing would be evidence for a trend. He would be apologizing for the specific behavior called out by startling.
In any case, the primary reason I called for an apology is not because of the consequences for gwern’s reputation. It is because an apology would indicate to trans people that even though LW is not always the most welcoming place, its members (especially its high-status members) are at least committed to fixing this, and curtailing hostile behavior when it’s pointed out. Trans people get enough shit from the rest of the world; they should be able to expect something better from a community committed to rationalism.
Also, thanks for volunteering to be an ombudsman (or at least, to play an ombudsman-like role)! It seems like a useful thing to do.
I agree with much of the sense you got, but I think there is a genuine question as to whether making unfriendly comments about transfolk in an irc channel or posting the logs of an irc channel without permission is a more serious breach of norms.
Similarly for not apologizing. Also, I don’t see how apologizing would be evidence for a trend. He would be apologizing for the specific behavior called out by startling.
I should be a bit clearer- apologizing requires acknowledging that the event occurred, which is stronger evidence for the trend than apologizing is evidence against it (if apologizing is even evidence against). Denying or belittling complaints is a fairly common status-protection impulse, as in many situations agreeing with complaints is status-lowering. One of the reasons it’s beneficial to raise issues as privately as possible is because that puts as little of the other person’s status on the line as possible, and makes it easier to resolve any interpretational disagreements.
In this particular situation, someone mentioned that the channel is an unfriendly place, and then posted comments by a specific user that are unfriendly. How likely is it that the user has made other, similar unfriendly comments? As it turns out, gwern keeps logs, and was able to substantiate the claim that those were basically isolated incidents.
For the apology to be specific, the apology has to be specific: instead of gwern publicly repenting for all unkind things he’s even said about transfolk in an LW open thread, it’s gwern acknowledging in front of the original audience that, yeah, that joke was ill done.
It is because an apology would indicate to trans people that even though LW is not always the most welcoming place, its members (especially its high-status members) are at least committed to fixing this, and curtailing hostile behavior when it’s pointed out. Trans people get enough shit from the rest of the world; they should be able to expect something better from a community committed to rationalism.
I am of mixed opinion on this; I think that LW should not welcome some behavior, and I pretty confidently include moralization as a behavior that should not be welcomed. There are times and places where honesty is more appropriate than reticence. The emphasis placed here on rationality and correctness has the cost of making it less friendly than if we did not have those focuses. That said, I think that friendliness is generally good, and would like to see more of it, and would like to take actions that increase it at acceptable cost.
Also, thanks for volunteering to be an ombudsman (or at least, to play an ombudsman-like role)! It seems like a useful thing to do.
I am of mixed opinion on this; I think that LW should not welcome some behavior, and I pretty confidently include moralization as a behavior that should not be welcomed. There are times and places where honesty is more appropriate than reticence. The emphasis placed here on rationality and correctness has the cost of making it less friendly than if we did not have those focuses. That said, I think that friendliness is generally good, and would like to see more of it, and would like to take actions that increase it at acceptable cost.
I agree. Furthermore, while I’m not an expert on irc culture I have the impression that it is meant to be a place were people can talk without worrying too much about the consequences of their words, thus freeing them from a significant psychological cost. I see this as a related, but separate concern and think it is reasonable for the two to stack when it comes to the LW irc channel. Basically, I don’t approve a Gwern’s comments per se., but think it is a reasonable social norm for people able to ‘get away with’ that sort of speech in LW irc channel.
I am of mixed opinion on this; I think that LW should not welcome some behavior, and I pretty confidently include moralization as a behavior that should not be welcomed. There are times and places where honesty is more appropriate than reticence. The emphasis placed here on rationality and correctness has the cost of making it less friendly than if we did not have those focuses. That said, I think that friendliness is generally good, and would like to see more of it, and would like to take actions that increase it at acceptable cost.
I’m not sure what you mean by “moralization”. The word has a connotation of disingenuousness, I think, and if that was intended then I dispute that it is an apt characterization of what I have said on this thread. If all you mean by “moralization” is “making moral judgments”, then I’m not sure why concern for honesty, rationality or correctness would conflict with moralization. My interpretation of your claim is that if users believe that expressing their controversial beliefs will lead to moral condemnation from other users, they will refrain from expressing those beliefs and that is a net loss to the community. But moral judgments, if honestly made, are also expressions of belief (at least if you’re a moral realist, which I am). So really a norm against moralization would discourage expression of one class of beliefs in order to encourage expression of another class of beliefs, and it doesn’t unambiguously promote honesty over reticence. Now, I do think that in many contexts moral language has a mind-killing effect; it’s often deployed in order to avoid thinking about uncomfortable ideas too deeply. But I haven’t noticed that being a significant problem here on LW, and it’s especially not a problem in this particular context.
If all you mean by “moralization” is “making moral judgments”, then I’m not sure why concern for honesty, rationality or correctness would conflict with moralization.
That is mostly what I mean as moralization. Moral beliefs seem more difficult to discuss, and especially more difficult to productively disagree with, than normal beliefs; rather than operating in the realm of expected values, they operate in the realm of trumps.
I remember watching a Newsnight debate between a reporter from the now-defunct News of the World and the reporter from the Guardian who revealed the extent of the NotW phone-hacking scandal. The NotW reporter kept accusing the Guardian guy of shoddy journalism for getting two facts about the story wrong, even though the vast majority of the story was uncontested. This struck me as contemptible, not because the accusations were incorrect, but because they were clearly motivated by pique at being called out (and perhaps a desire for deflecting the issue) rather than genuine concern about the quality of journalism. I wouldn’t have minded, in fact I would have been appreciative, if someone not involved with the scandal had pointed out the Guardian’s mistakes.
I got the same sense reading gwern’s response. Perhaps startling shouldn’t have published those logs—in fact, he certainly shouldn’t have published them in their original form—but hearing that from gwern as a response, in lieu of any serious demonstration of regret or contrition, struck me as contemptible (to be clear, I find the action comptemptible; I still have fairly high, though much diminished, regard for gwern). So from my perspective, at least, gwern didn’t do his reputation any favors by pointing this out. Similarly for not apologizing. Also, I don’t see how apologizing would be evidence for a trend. He would be apologizing for the specific behavior called out by startling.
In any case, the primary reason I called for an apology is not because of the consequences for gwern’s reputation. It is because an apology would indicate to trans people that even though LW is not always the most welcoming place, its members (especially its high-status members) are at least committed to fixing this, and curtailing hostile behavior when it’s pointed out. Trans people get enough shit from the rest of the world; they should be able to expect something better from a community committed to rationalism.
Also, thanks for volunteering to be an ombudsman (or at least, to play an ombudsman-like role)! It seems like a useful thing to do.
I agree with much of the sense you got, but I think there is a genuine question as to whether making unfriendly comments about transfolk in an irc channel or posting the logs of an irc channel without permission is a more serious breach of norms.
I should be a bit clearer- apologizing requires acknowledging that the event occurred, which is stronger evidence for the trend than apologizing is evidence against it (if apologizing is even evidence against). Denying or belittling complaints is a fairly common status-protection impulse, as in many situations agreeing with complaints is status-lowering. One of the reasons it’s beneficial to raise issues as privately as possible is because that puts as little of the other person’s status on the line as possible, and makes it easier to resolve any interpretational disagreements.
In this particular situation, someone mentioned that the channel is an unfriendly place, and then posted comments by a specific user that are unfriendly. How likely is it that the user has made other, similar unfriendly comments? As it turns out, gwern keeps logs, and was able to substantiate the claim that those were basically isolated incidents.
For the apology to be specific, the apology has to be specific: instead of gwern publicly repenting for all unkind things he’s even said about transfolk in an LW open thread, it’s gwern acknowledging in front of the original audience that, yeah, that joke was ill done.
I am of mixed opinion on this; I think that LW should not welcome some behavior, and I pretty confidently include moralization as a behavior that should not be welcomed. There are times and places where honesty is more appropriate than reticence. The emphasis placed here on rationality and correctness has the cost of making it less friendly than if we did not have those focuses. That said, I think that friendliness is generally good, and would like to see more of it, and would like to take actions that increase it at acceptable cost.
You’re welcome!
I agree. Furthermore, while I’m not an expert on irc culture I have the impression that it is meant to be a place were people can talk without worrying too much about the consequences of their words, thus freeing them from a significant psychological cost. I see this as a related, but separate concern and think it is reasonable for the two to stack when it comes to the LW irc channel. Basically, I don’t approve a Gwern’s comments per se., but think it is a reasonable social norm for people able to ‘get away with’ that sort of speech in LW irc channel.
I’m not sure what you mean by “moralization”. The word has a connotation of disingenuousness, I think, and if that was intended then I dispute that it is an apt characterization of what I have said on this thread. If all you mean by “moralization” is “making moral judgments”, then I’m not sure why concern for honesty, rationality or correctness would conflict with moralization. My interpretation of your claim is that if users believe that expressing their controversial beliefs will lead to moral condemnation from other users, they will refrain from expressing those beliefs and that is a net loss to the community. But moral judgments, if honestly made, are also expressions of belief (at least if you’re a moral realist, which I am). So really a norm against moralization would discourage expression of one class of beliefs in order to encourage expression of another class of beliefs, and it doesn’t unambiguously promote honesty over reticence. Now, I do think that in many contexts moral language has a mind-killing effect; it’s often deployed in order to avoid thinking about uncomfortable ideas too deeply. But I haven’t noticed that being a significant problem here on LW, and it’s especially not a problem in this particular context.
That is mostly what I mean as moralization. Moral beliefs seem more difficult to discuss, and especially more difficult to productively disagree with, than normal beliefs; rather than operating in the realm of expected values, they operate in the realm of trumps.