I think the post is also a meditation on the SNAFU principle (communication is impossible in a hierarchy—specifically, fear of punishment inhibits communication).
Cos’s approach involves actually lowering the punishment level, not just claiming that whatever people who have the moral edge do mustn’t be counted as punishment.
Huh. Interesting. Sure, I can see that if I focus solely on the fear-of-punishment aspect of hierarchy.
I certainly endorse defining punishment by its effects independent of the moral edge of its initiators, and I endorse factoring in the knock-on effects of punishment (including but hardly limited to inhibition of communication) when deciding whether to engage in it. (Relatedly, I try to remember that punishment is often reinforcing for the punisher.)
I think the post is also a meditation on the SNAFU principle (communication is impossible in a hierarchy—specifically, fear of punishment inhibits communication).
Cos’s approach involves actually lowering the punishment level, not just claiming that whatever people who have the moral edge do mustn’t be counted as punishment.
Huh. Interesting.
Sure, I can see that if I focus solely on the fear-of-punishment aspect of hierarchy.
I certainly endorse defining punishment by its effects independent of the moral edge of its initiators, and I endorse factoring in the knock-on effects of punishment (including but hardly limited to inhibition of communication) when deciding whether to engage in it. (Relatedly, I try to remember that punishment is often reinforcing for the punisher.)