I disagree with this. Yes, the admins put a valuable resource at risk, which in their estimation has a non-trivial negative impact if it is taken down. But this was done in the hopes of gaining something more important than what they risked: a meaningful signal of trust, not just in any particular person, but trust in an entire culture and community (i.e., the LessWrong community), trust that selected people from this community can be given the power to do harm, and have things not go poorly. This common knowledge is very valuable (especially when this community is actively currently dealing with an existential risk that is just as dangerous, even more so, as nuclear war is/was), more than what the admins put at stake to hopefully earn this trust.
In contrast, a participant in Petrov Day who fails to live up to expectations, not only causes a harm which is intended (by the organizers) to be non-trivial, but also sacrifices our chance at building this trust, a chance we won’t have again for 12 more months.
I disagree with this. Yes, the admins put a valuable resource at risk, which in their estimation has a non-trivial negative impact if it is taken down. But this was done in the hopes of gaining something more important than what they risked: a meaningful signal of trust, not just in any particular person, but trust in an entire culture and community (i.e., the LessWrong community), trust that selected people from this community can be given the power to do harm, and have things not go poorly. This common knowledge is very valuable (especially when this community is actively currently dealing with an existential risk that is just as dangerous, even more so, as nuclear war is/was), more than what the admins put at stake to hopefully earn this trust.
In contrast, a participant in Petrov Day who fails to live up to expectations, not only causes a harm which is intended (by the organizers) to be non-trivial, but also sacrifices our chance at building this trust, a chance we won’t have again for 12 more months.