You seem to be imagining the choice as being between āhost bad discussionsā or ādo something about it via centralized hierarchical controlā. But Iām trying to emphasize a third option: ādo something about it via decentralized mechanisms.ā (Posts with negative karma are basically invisible, after all.)
The downside of centralized responses is that it creates a precedent for people to use social/āpolitical pressure to try to impose their opinions on the whole community. Decentralization protects against that. (I donāt so strongly object to the mods just deciding, on their own, to ban certain topics. What especially troubles me is social/āpolitical pressure aimed towards this end.)
As I see it, the crucial question to ask is which mechanism is more reliable: top-down control in response to social/āpolitical pressure from vocal advocates, or decentralized community judgment via āsecret ballotā karma voting. As I see it, the primary difference between the two is that the former is more āpoliticizedā and subject to social desirability bias. (A secondary effect of politicization is to encourage factions to fight over control of this new power.) So I think the decentralized approach is much better.
You seem to be imagining the choice as being between āhost bad discussionsā or ādo something about it via centralized hierarchical controlā. But Iām trying to emphasize a third option: ādo something about it via decentralized mechanisms.ā (Posts with negative karma are basically invisible, after all.)
The downside of centralized responses is that it creates a precedent for people to use social/āpolitical pressure to try to impose their opinions on the whole community. Decentralization protects against that. (I donāt so strongly object to the mods just deciding, on their own, to ban certain topics. What especially troubles me is social/āpolitical pressure aimed towards this end.)
As I see it, the crucial question to ask is which mechanism is more reliable: top-down control in response to social/āpolitical pressure from vocal advocates, or decentralized community judgment via āsecret ballotā karma voting. As I see it, the primary difference between the two is that the former is more āpoliticizedā and subject to social desirability bias. (A secondary effect of politicization is to encourage factions to fight over control of this new power.) So I think the decentralized approach is much better.