To me, it would make most sense to declare Crocker’s Rules in certain contexts (subjects, settings, individuals) rather than in general.
More generally, the optimal social codes for different contexts are likely different. Why expect that what is optimal for random subject or setting or individual is optimal for another?
I suppose that supporters of Crockers’ might think of it in two ways
1) Crockers has a fundamental quality/benefit that means it’s always optimal (a bit utopic, but I see a little of that here)
2) While Crockers may not be always optimal, it usually is so and there is some benefit from applying it in all cases rather than picking and choosing (e.g. external consistency, impression of ‘awesomeness’, avoiding getting rid of Crockers in challenging but thus potentially very valuable cases)
I am rarely convinced by this sort of argument at an individual level, except when it comes to forming personal habits. And practically speaking, Crockers won’t even give you the habit ‘only hears the truth’ (which is an environmental situation rather than an actual habit anyway), as people won’t follow it.
More generally, the optimal social codes for different contexts are likely different. Why expect that what is optimal for random subject or setting or individual is optimal for another?
I suppose that supporters of Crockers’ might think of it in two ways 1) Crockers has a fundamental quality/benefit that means it’s always optimal (a bit utopic, but I see a little of that here) 2) While Crockers may not be always optimal, it usually is so and there is some benefit from applying it in all cases rather than picking and choosing (e.g. external consistency, impression of ‘awesomeness’, avoiding getting rid of Crockers in challenging but thus potentially very valuable cases)
I am rarely convinced by this sort of argument at an individual level, except when it comes to forming personal habits. And practically speaking, Crockers won’t even give you the habit ‘only hears the truth’ (which is an environmental situation rather than an actual habit anyway), as people won’t follow it.