That said, I agree that this seems important to make progress on; this is one of the reasons I worked in roles, this is one of the reasons I try to be as polite as I am, this is why I’ve tried to make my presentation more adaptable instead of being more willing to write people off.
It is not enough to say nice things: other representatives must be prevented from saying nasty things.
For any statement one can make, there will be people “alienated” (=offended?) by it.
David Gerard was alienated by a race/IQ discussion and you think that should’ve been avoided.
But someone was surely equally alienated by discussions of religion, evolution, economics, education and our ability to usefully define words.
Do we value David Gerard so far above any given creationist, that we should hire a PR department to cater to him and people like him specifically?
There is an ongoing effort to avoid overtly political topics (Politics is the mind-killer!) - but this effort is doomed beyond a certain threshold, since everything is political to some extent. Or to some people.
To me, a concerted PR effort on part of all prominent representatives to never say anything “nasty” would be alienating. I don’t think a community even somewhat dedicated to “radical” honesty could abide a PR department—or vice versa.
TL;DR—LessWrong has no PR department, LessWrong needs no PR department!
For any statement one can make, there will be people “alienated” (=offended?) by it
If you also assume that nothing available except of perfection, that’s a fully general argument against PR, not just against the possibility of LW/MIRI having good PR.
If you don’t assume that, LW/MIRI can have good PR, by avoiding just the most significant bad PR. Disliking racism isn’t some weird idiosyncratic thing that only Gerard has.
It requires you to filter what you publicly and officially say. “You”, plural, the collective, can speak as freely as you like …in private. But if you, individually, want to be able to say anything you like to anyone, you had better accept the consequences.
“The mystery is why the community doesn’t implement obvious solutions. Hiring PR people is an obvious solution. There’s a posting somewhere in which Anna Salamon argues that there is some sort of moral hazard involved in professional PR, but never explains why, and everyone agrees with her anyway.”
“”You”, plural, the collective, can speak as freely as you like …in private.”
Suppose a large part of the community wants to speak as freely as it likes in public, and the mystery is solved.
We even managed to touch upon the moral hazard involved in professional PR—insofar as it is a filter between what you believe and what you say publicly.
It is not enough to say nice things: other representatives must be prevented from saying nasty things.
For any statement one can make, there will be people “alienated” (=offended?) by it.
David Gerard was alienated by a race/IQ discussion and you think that should’ve been avoided.
But someone was surely equally alienated by discussions of religion, evolution, economics, education and our ability to usefully define words.
Do we value David Gerard so far above any given creationist, that we should hire a PR department to cater to him and people like him specifically?
There is an ongoing effort to avoid overtly political topics (Politics is the mind-killer!) - but this effort is doomed beyond a certain threshold, since everything is political to some extent. Or to some people.
To me, a concerted PR effort on part of all prominent representatives to never say anything “nasty” would be alienating. I don’t think a community even somewhat dedicated to “radical” honesty could abide a PR department—or vice versa.
TL;DR—LessWrong has no PR department, LessWrong needs no PR department!
If you also assume that nothing available except of perfection, that’s a fully general argument against PR, not just against the possibility of LW/MIRI having good PR.
If you don’t assume that, LW/MIRI can have good PR, by avoiding just the most significant bad PR. Disliking racism isn’t some weird idiosyncratic thing that only Gerard has.
The level of PR you aim for puts an upper limit to how much “radical” honesty you can have.
If you aim for perfect PR, you can have 0 honesty.
If you aim for perfect honesty, you can have no PR. lesswrong doesn’t go that far, by a long shot—even without a PR team present.
Most organization do not aim for honesty at all.
The question is where do we draw the line.
Which brings us to “Disliking racism isn’t some weird idiosyncratic thing that only Gerard has.”
From what I understand, Gerard left because he doesn’t like discussions about race/IQ.
Which is not the same thing as racism.
I, personally, don’t want lesswrong to cater to people who can not tolerate a discussion.
honesty=/=frankness. Good PR does not require you to lie.
Semantics.
Good PR requires you to put a filter between what you think is true and what you say.
It requires you to filter what you publicly and officially say. “You”, plural, the collective, can speak as freely as you like …in private. But if you, individually, want to be able to say anything you like to anyone, you had better accept the consequences.
“The mystery is why the community doesn’t implement obvious solutions. Hiring PR people is an obvious solution. There’s a posting somewhere in which Anna Salamon argues that there is some sort of moral hazard involved in professional PR, but never explains why, and everyone agrees with her anyway.”
“”You”, plural, the collective, can speak as freely as you like …in private.”
Suppose a large part of the community wants to speak as freely as it likes in public, and the mystery is solved.
We even managed to touch upon the moral hazard involved in professional PR—insofar as it is a filter between what you believe and what you say publicly.
Theres a hazard in having no filters, as well. One thing being bad doesn’t make another good.