it unquestionably violated one of the strongest taboos that exists in the year 2023… Note that I’m not asking anyone to disregard epistemic integrity, or even necessarily compromise it… On this forum, that default should favor social welfare consequences.
If epistimic integrity violates a social taboo, then you are asking people to compromise it; you shouldn’t just handwave that away because that’s uncomfortable. Own the tradeoff if you’re going to ask for it.
This also assumes that not violating a taboo is inherently supportive of the social welfare, which I do not believe is the case. Social taboos have been wrong many, many times before, and EA is already taboo-violating and offensive to various swathes of the population. How and by whom is it decided which taboos should be obeyed and which should be violated?
I don’t imagine you’d suggest EA, had it existed in 1950, should have ignored civil rights, but favoring segregation would’ve been the dominant social position at the time and fighting for desegregation was violating a strong taboo. Or I’m wrong, and you would suggest a policy of strategic silence where local taboos are concerned?
If epistimic integrity violates a social taboo, then you are asking people to compromise it; you shouldn’t just handwave that away because that’s uncomfortable. Own the tradeoff if you’re going to ask for it.
This also assumes that not violating a taboo is inherently supportive of the social welfare, which I do not believe is the case. Social taboos have been wrong many, many times before, and EA is already taboo-violating and offensive to various swathes of the population. How and by whom is it decided which taboos should be obeyed and which should be violated?
I don’t imagine you’d suggest EA, had it existed in 1950, should have ignored civil rights, but favoring segregation would’ve been the dominant social position at the time and fighting for desegregation was violating a strong taboo. Or I’m wrong, and you would suggest a policy of strategic silence where local taboos are concerned?