Yeah, maybe it’s not a “strong” norm, but I do perceive some norm and I think it’s valuable. I think I’m much more OK with EA organizations like Givewell doing policy research and delivering targeted policy recommendations vs casual policy discussion in the EA Facebook group. Maybe because an individual organization is more likely to follow all the recommendations you describe here: employees discuss issues face-to-face in small groups, and are typically on sufficiently good terms to stay away from character assassinations.
BTW, I’m tempted to nominate you as “mediator of online EA discussions” to fight diffusion of responsibility in flamewar firefighting, but I guess your revealed preferences suggest that it’s not a role that you particularly enjoy? It’s not a role that I particularly enjoy either. I feel like part of the problem is that trying to carefully evaluate all sides of an issue and not be a jerk to everyone is a lot less fun than trying to win points for your side, so that’s why the “honest middle” tends to leave a lot of politicized conversations and let extremists to duke it out. (You probably have the moral authority to nominate someone else if you wanted to though. Note that a “mediator” and a “moderator” are not quite the same thing… a “moderator” censors discussion that gets off track, whereas a “mediator” participates in discussions and tries to help each side understand the other. It feels like a bad idea for both roles to be played by the same person. I think ideally the EA community would have a sizable population of mediator types in order to keep us cohesive. We want disagreements to be about facts, not personalities.)
I don’t particularly enjoy flamewar firefighting, but it’s not like I can’t do it; it’s just frustrating, distracting and not very immediately rewarding, and I don’t feel very qualified even when I’m at the top of my game (let alone in the middle of a flamewar)! But you’re not the first person to suggest this to me, so maybe I should update.
Yeah, maybe it’s not a “strong” norm, but I do perceive some norm and I think it’s valuable. I think I’m much more OK with EA organizations like Givewell doing policy research and delivering targeted policy recommendations vs casual policy discussion in the EA Facebook group. Maybe because an individual organization is more likely to follow all the recommendations you describe here: employees discuss issues face-to-face in small groups, and are typically on sufficiently good terms to stay away from character assassinations.
BTW, I’m tempted to nominate you as “mediator of online EA discussions” to fight diffusion of responsibility in flamewar firefighting, but I guess your revealed preferences suggest that it’s not a role that you particularly enjoy? It’s not a role that I particularly enjoy either. I feel like part of the problem is that trying to carefully evaluate all sides of an issue and not be a jerk to everyone is a lot less fun than trying to win points for your side, so that’s why the “honest middle” tends to leave a lot of politicized conversations and let extremists to duke it out. (You probably have the moral authority to nominate someone else if you wanted to though. Note that a “mediator” and a “moderator” are not quite the same thing… a “moderator” censors discussion that gets off track, whereas a “mediator” participates in discussions and tries to help each side understand the other. It feels like a bad idea for both roles to be played by the same person. I think ideally the EA community would have a sizable population of mediator types in order to keep us cohesive. We want disagreements to be about facts, not personalities.)
I’m flattered by your nomination!
I don’t particularly enjoy flamewar firefighting, but it’s not like I can’t do it; it’s just frustrating, distracting and not very immediately rewarding, and I don’t feel very qualified even when I’m at the top of my game (let alone in the middle of a flamewar)! But you’re not the first person to suggest this to me, so maybe I should update.