When joining a workplace, a university, or a club sport, you are opting into a code of conduct, including the part where there’s an entity that enforces that code of conduct on you. It may not be explicitly on your mind, but at some level you’re aware that that’s part of the package you’re choosing to sign up for.
Maybe rationalists should found more regular societies? In Germany, it is said that if three people come together, they found an association (it requires seven). The process is easy and common. It seems the US counterpart is an “501(c)(3) entity” and I have no clue how easy it is, but it shouldn’t be difficult for the average member of this community. That would implicitly provide for some governance structure.
Creating a 501c3 is not the hard part. The hard part would be convincing a decentralized and informal community that they should accept the proposed central organization, including trusting it when it said who they should associate with.
Agree. I don’t think it will work well when an informal community already exists. It probably works best when you found the community is small (seven members). After the fact, it might work for sub-communities with specific purposes, such as organizing events.
If the organization owns the place where people meet, the organization can put someone on a blacklist, and the local community can either meet at that place without the banned person, or coordinate on finding a different place to meet at—which would be difficult if the best local coordinators are members of the organization.
Maybe rationalists should found more regular societies? In Germany, it is said that if three people come together, they found an association (it requires seven). The process is easy and common. It seems the US counterpart is an “501(c)(3) entity” and I have no clue how easy it is, but it shouldn’t be difficult for the average member of this community. That would implicitly provide for some governance structure.
Creating a 501c3 is not the hard part. The hard part would be convincing a decentralized and informal community that they should accept the proposed central organization, including trusting it when it said who they should associate with.
(Which people are naturally wary of!)
Agree. I don’t think it will work well when an informal community already exists. It probably works best when you found the community is small (seven members). After the fact, it might work for sub-communities with specific purposes, such as organizing events.
If the organization owns the place where people meet, the organization can put someone on a blacklist, and the local community can either meet at that place without the banned person, or coordinate on finding a different place to meet at—which would be difficult if the best local coordinators are members of the organization.