I’m just curious about your opinion about that specific solution.
The ethics of conflicts of interest in the media are pretty well-trodden ground; you could adapt any journalistic ethics document into a comprehensive do’s and don’ts list. Do state your financial interests clearly and publicly, don’t mix advertising and information content, etc.
It’s not foolproof and bias is universal, but a conflict of interest on the scale of one’s career and sex life is something a rationalist ought to be at least a little concerned about.
I get a kick out of this, because my social circle is largely polyamorous but would mostly consider LW a charming bunch of complete nutjobs on other grounds. Polyamory really isn’t all that uncommon in communities anchored around high-tech development/elite tech schools, IME.
That may well be true, but it makes little difference. The collapse of sexual mores is directly, IMO causally, linked with decreased stability and fertility; letting it take hold in the highest IQ sections of the population is a recipe for disaster. Engaging in that sort of behavior is strong evidence against a person’s character as a leader.
Engaging in that sort of behavior is strong evidence against a person’s character as a leader.
That’s a silly assertion. First because it’s obviously only true from the point of view of a specific morality. And second, because it ignores the empirical fact that, in full compliance with biology, powerful male leaders usually bed many women.
Do state your financial interests clearly and publicly, don’t mix advertising and information content, etc.
Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I would absolutely endorse a policy along those lines.
The collapse of sexual mores is directly, IMO causally, linked with decreased stability and fertility; letting it take hold in the highest IQ sections of the population is a recipe for disaster. Engaging in that sort of behavior is strong evidence against a person’s character as a leader.
Ah, I see.
Sure, if I believed that failing to conform to previously established sexual mores led to decreased stability, I would no doubt agree that the poly aspects of LW and its various parent organizations were troubling.
Similar things are true of my college living group, the theater group I perform with, etc.
Come to that, I suppose similar things are true of my state government, which accepts my marriage to my husband as a family despite this being a clear violation of pre-existing sexual mores, and of large chunks of my country, which accepts marriages between people of different skin colors as families despite this being a clear violation of the sexual mores of a few decades ago.
I’d prefer not to completely derail this into a political/moral argument, since the issue at hand is a bit more relevant. Since you are, as you admit, fairly invested in your position there is little purpose to debate on this point except to distract from the main issue.
Sure; I have no interest in debating with you whether polyamory, homosexuality, miscegenation and other violations of sexual mores really are harmful. As you say, it would be a distraction.
My point was that if they were, it would make sense to object to an organization on the grounds that its leadership approves of/engages in harmful sexual-more-violating activities. What would not make sense is to differentially object to that organization on those grounds.
That is, accepting/endorsing/engaging sexual-more-violating activities might make LW’s parent organizations dangerous, but it doesn’t make them any more dangerous than many far-more-mainstream organizations that do the same things (like my college living group, the theater group I perform with, etc).
If this one of the two sketchiest things about the organization, as you suggest, it sounds to me like the organization is pretty darned close to the mainstream, which seems rather opposed to the point lmm was trying to make, and which I originally inferred you were aligning with.
The ethics of conflicts of interest in the media are pretty well-trodden ground; you could adapt any journalistic ethics document into a comprehensive do’s and don’ts list. Do state your financial interests clearly and publicly, don’t mix advertising and information content, etc.
It’s not foolproof and bias is universal, but a conflict of interest on the scale of one’s career and sex life is something a rationalist ought to be at least a little concerned about.
That may well be true, but it makes little difference. The collapse of sexual mores is directly, IMO causally, linked with decreased stability and fertility; letting it take hold in the highest IQ sections of the population is a recipe for disaster. Engaging in that sort of behavior is strong evidence against a person’s character as a leader.
That’s a silly assertion. First because it’s obviously only true from the point of view of a specific morality. And second, because it ignores the empirical fact that, in full compliance with biology, powerful male leaders usually bed many women.
Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I would absolutely endorse a policy along those lines.
Ah, I see.
Sure, if I believed that failing to conform to previously established sexual mores led to decreased stability, I would no doubt agree that the poly aspects of LW and its various parent organizations were troubling.
Similar things are true of my college living group, the theater group I perform with, etc.
Come to that, I suppose similar things are true of my state government, which accepts my marriage to my husband as a family despite this being a clear violation of pre-existing sexual mores, and of large chunks of my country, which accepts marriages between people of different skin colors as families despite this being a clear violation of the sexual mores of a few decades ago.
I’d prefer not to completely derail this into a political/moral argument, since the issue at hand is a bit more relevant. Since you are, as you admit, fairly invested in your position there is little purpose to debate on this point except to distract from the main issue.
Sure; I have no interest in debating with you whether polyamory, homosexuality, miscegenation and other violations of sexual mores really are harmful. As you say, it would be a distraction.
My point was that if they were, it would make sense to object to an organization on the grounds that its leadership approves of/engages in harmful sexual-more-violating activities. What would not make sense is to differentially object to that organization on those grounds.
That is, accepting/endorsing/engaging sexual-more-violating activities might make LW’s parent organizations dangerous, but it doesn’t make them any more dangerous than many far-more-mainstream organizations that do the same things (like my college living group, the theater group I perform with, etc).
If this one of the two sketchiest things about the organization, as you suggest, it sounds to me like the organization is pretty darned close to the mainstream, which seems rather opposed to the point lmm was trying to make, and which I originally inferred you were aligning with.