[the rest of this comment is a bit emotional, a bit of a rant/ramble. i don’t necessarily reflectively endorse the below, but i think it pretty accurately captures my state of mind while writing.]
but man, people can be mean. twitter is a pretty low bar, and although the discourse on twitter isn’t exactly enjoyable, my impression of the EA forum has also gone down over the last few days. most of the comments that critique my/rachel’s/austin’s decisions (and many of the ones supporting our decisions!) have made me quite sad/anxious/ashamed in ways i don’t endorse — and (most) have done ~nothing to reduce the likelihood that i invite speakers who the commenters consider racist to the next manifest.
i’m a little confused about the goals of a lot of the folks who’re commenting. like, their (your?) marginal 20 minutes would be WAY more effective by… idk, hopping on a call with me or something?[1] [june23-2024 — edit: jeff’s comment has explained why: yes, 1:1 discussion with me is better for the goal of improving/changing manifest’s decisions, but many of the comments are “trying to hash out what EA community … norms should be in this sort of situation, and that seems … reasonably well suited for public discussion.”]
there have been a few comments that are really great, both some that are in support of our decisions & some that are against them — austin highlighted a few that i had in mind, like Isa’s and huw’s. and, a few folks have reached out independently to offer their emotional support, which is really kind of them. these are the things that make me agree with (8): i don’t think that, in many communities, folks who might disagree with me on the object level would offer their emotional support for me on the meta-level.
i’m grateful to the folks who’re disagreeing (& agreeing) with me constructively; to everyone else… idk, man, at least hold off on commenting until you’ve given me a call or let me buy you a coffee or something. [june23-2024 — see edit above]
and i would explicitly encourage you, dear reader, to do so! please! i would like to talk to you much more than i would like to read your comment on the EA forum, and way more than i’d like to read your twitter post! i would very much like to adjust my decision-making process to be better, and insofar as you think that’s good, please do so through a medium that’s much higher bandwidth!
i’m a little confused about the goals of a lot of the folks who’re commenting. like, their (your?) marginal 20 minutes would be WAY more effective by… idk, hopping on a call with me or something?
To the extent that people are trying to influence future Manifest decisions or your views in particular, I agree that 1:1 private discussion would often be better. But I read a lot of the discussion as people trying to hash out what EA community (broadly construed) norms should be in this sort of situation, and that seems to me like it’s reasonably well suited for public discussion?
cosigned, generally.
most strongly, i agree with:
(1), (3), (4)
i also somewhat agree with:
(2), (7), (8), (9)
[the rest of this comment is a bit emotional, a bit of a rant/ramble. i don’t necessarily reflectively endorse the below, but i think it pretty accurately captures my state of mind while writing.]
but man, people can be mean. twitter is a pretty low bar, and although the discourse on twitter isn’t exactly enjoyable, my impression of the EA forum has also gone down over the last few days. most of the comments that critique my/rachel’s/austin’s decisions (and many of the ones supporting our decisions!) have made me quite sad/anxious/ashamed in ways i don’t endorse — and (most) have done ~nothing to reduce the likelihood that i invite speakers who the commenters consider racist to the next manifest.
i’m a little confused about the goals of a lot of the folks who’re commenting. like, their (your?) marginal 20 minutes would be WAY more effective by… idk,hopping on a call with meor something?[1]there have been a few comments that are really great, both some that are in support of our decisions & some that are against them — austin highlighted a few that i had in mind, like Isa’s and huw’s. and, a few folks have reached out independently to offer their emotional support, which is really kind of them. these are the things that make me agree with (8): i don’t think that, in many communities, folks who might disagree with me on the object level would offer their emotional support for me on the meta-level.
i’m grateful to the folks who’re disagreeing (& agreeing) with me constructively
; to everyone else… idk, man, at least hold off on commenting until you’ve given me a call or let me buy you a coffee or something.[june23-2024 — see edit above]and i would explicitly encourage you, dear reader, to do so! please! i would like to talk to you much more than i would like to read your comment on the EA forum, and way more than i’d like to read your twitter post! i would very much like to adjust my decision-making process to be better, and insofar as you think that’s good, please do so through a medium that’s much higher bandwidth!
To the extent that people are trying to influence future Manifest decisions or your views in particular, I agree that 1:1 private discussion would often be better. But I read a lot of the discussion as people trying to hash out what EA community (broadly construed) norms should be in this sort of situation, and that seems to me like it’s reasonably well suited for public discussion?
thanks, this has cleared things up quite a bit for me. i edited my comment to reflect it!