Our petition should have a clause talking about how terrible it is for the NYT to bow to mobs of enraged internet elites but that it would be hypocritical of them to choose now as their moment to grow a spine. At least this gets the right ideas across.
Another way to look at this is that it’s offered information; our culture has some rules, and their culture has some rules, and they’re proposing a massive rule violation in our culture, and in the interest of mutual understanding we’re telling them that we would view it as hostile.
Now, you might say “this is a symmetric weapon!”; the people who claimed that Bennet’s decision to print Tom Cotton’s op-ed was a massive rule violation in their culture are doing basically the same thing. I reply that we have to represent our culture if it want it to be present; competing views are more reason to defend the core principles of our society, not less.
[Of course, I am not arguing for doing anything against your conscience, except insofar as I think your conscience is mistaken about what should be unethical.]
We take some steps to make our petition a non-mob. Like, maybe we require that everyone who signs it restate it in their own words or something, or that everyone who signs it be someone initially skeptical who changed their mind as a result of hearing both sides.
Petitions allow for intellectual specialization of labor; specialists create a position, and then others choose whether or not to sign on. This allows for compression and easy communication; forcing everyone to restate it taxes participation and makes the result harder to comprehend. (Suppose many of the comments actually include disagreement with planks of the petition; how then should it be interpreted?)
Similarly, restricting it to people who are “initially skeptical” is selection on beliefs, not methodology, and is adverse selection (as people who initially picked the right answer are now barred).
I signed the petition myself. I think our disagreement is smaller than it seems. I think partly my concern is that this is a symmetric weapon, but partly it’s simply what I said: There is a slippery slope; we would do well to think about fences. Does our culture have a clearly defined fence on this slope already? If so, I’m not aware of it.
Another way to look at this is that it’s offered information; our culture has some rules, and their culture has some rules, and they’re proposing a massive rule violation in our culture, and in the interest of mutual understanding we’re telling them that we would view it as hostile.
Now, you might say “this is a symmetric weapon!”; the people who claimed that Bennet’s decision to print Tom Cotton’s op-ed was a massive rule violation in their culture are doing basically the same thing. I reply that we have to represent our culture if it want it to be present; competing views are more reason to defend the core principles of our society, not less.
[Of course, I am not arguing for doing anything against your conscience, except insofar as I think your conscience is mistaken about what should be unethical.]
Petitions allow for intellectual specialization of labor; specialists create a position, and then others choose whether or not to sign on. This allows for compression and easy communication; forcing everyone to restate it taxes participation and makes the result harder to comprehend. (Suppose many of the comments actually include disagreement with planks of the petition; how then should it be interpreted?)
Similarly, restricting it to people who are “initially skeptical” is selection on beliefs, not methodology, and is adverse selection (as people who initially picked the right answer are now barred).
I signed the petition myself. I think our disagreement is smaller than it seems. I think partly my concern is that this is a symmetric weapon, but partly it’s simply what I said: There is a slippery slope; we would do well to think about fences. Does our culture have a clearly defined fence on this slope already? If so, I’m not aware of it.