It was always my intention to avoid criticism and merely put questions to FP. It is difficult to defend myself here without now straying into criticism, which I am also disinclined towards (particularly publicly for the reasons you state), and because it would seem particularly unfair given Johannes’ sincere engagement with those questions.
I therefore make note of a few things that were relevant to my decision: - It has been ~nine months since the grant was made. - The grant was for a large amount of money. - Near zero information is publicly available regarding the decision making for the grant, or for the grantee. - In comparison to the HLI case, the post was made on the basis of a lack of information, not on the basis of detailed information made publicly available. - In comparison to the HLI case, the post took the form of a request for further information, rather than a criticism of publicly available information.
Obviously, the timing of the researcher responsible being on leave was unanticipated and unfortunate. Happy to take on board criticism/feedback regarding whether questions should be put privately first/notice should be given (particularly from Johannes), but I’ll also just note that, obviously, I’m just some guy. The administrative burden of having to follow up with an org seems greater than should be required (though perhaps it should be preferred) for mere questions about funding decisions on a public forum, in my view.
Along the lines of Ben’s comment, this seems like it would be a disincentive for questions to be asked regarding these decisions, and my personal view is that many more questions should be asked. Not because there are necessarily any issues, but because facing questions and giving transparent answers increases credibility, and makes the org stronger and more effective.
I don’t think that any of those justify not sending either your questions or a writeup of the post to the org in advance. They have a public email address. It’s at the bottom of their home page. I don’t think it’s a particularly excessive burden to send a copy once you’re done and give them a week. Perhaps two if they apologize and ask for a bit more time. I understand why people might be suspicious at the moment, but forcing people to scramble while on vacation is not a good norm. As you say, this post clearly wasn’t that time-sensitive. I don’t think that the Forum should have taken your post down, but that’s a much higher bar.
For comparison, when I posted a piece that was somewhat critical of CEA’s admissions and transparency policies, it was after I had asked in a more private Slack channel and gotten an answer I was not satisfied with. You can see that they clarified that they did inform people, and that others chimed in to thank me for informing them with the post.
Looking at this comment after Nonlinear, I think it holds up. There exists a point at which an org loses the (moral, not legal) right to see questions / a writeup in advance, and Nonlinear was past it. Legal threats, contacting the people you spoke with, and contacting your employer are classic examples of this. I am also sympathetic to journalists covering industries that are known to react strongly, such as oil and tobacco. But the items in the list you provide do not come close to the bar of the org being untrustworthy, and that is the bar I think must be cleared.
It was always my intention to avoid criticism and merely put questions to FP. It is difficult to defend myself here without now straying into criticism, which I am also disinclined towards (particularly publicly for the reasons you state), and because it would seem particularly unfair given Johannes’ sincere engagement with those questions.
I therefore make note of a few things that were relevant to my decision:
- It has been ~nine months since the grant was made.
- The grant was for a large amount of money.
- Near zero information is publicly available regarding the decision making for the grant, or for the grantee.
- In comparison to the HLI case, the post was made on the basis of a lack of information, not on the basis of detailed information made publicly available.
- In comparison to the HLI case, the post took the form of a request for further information, rather than a criticism of publicly available information.
Obviously, the timing of the researcher responsible being on leave was unanticipated and unfortunate. Happy to take on board criticism/feedback regarding whether questions should be put privately first/notice should be given (particularly from Johannes), but I’ll also just note that, obviously, I’m just some guy. The administrative burden of having to follow up with an org seems greater than should be required (though perhaps it should be preferred) for mere questions about funding decisions on a public forum, in my view.
Along the lines of Ben’s comment, this seems like it would be a disincentive for questions to be asked regarding these decisions, and my personal view is that many more questions should be asked. Not because there are necessarily any issues, but because facing questions and giving transparent answers increases credibility, and makes the org stronger and more effective.
I don’t think that any of those justify not sending either your questions or a writeup of the post to the org in advance. They have a public email address. It’s at the bottom of their home page. I don’t think it’s a particularly excessive burden to send a copy once you’re done and give them a week. Perhaps two if they apologize and ask for a bit more time. I understand why people might be suspicious at the moment, but forcing people to scramble while on vacation is not a good norm. As you say, this post clearly wasn’t that time-sensitive. I don’t think that the Forum should have taken your post down, but that’s a much higher bar.
For comparison, when I posted a piece that was somewhat critical of CEA’s admissions and transparency policies, it was after I had asked in a more private Slack channel and gotten an answer I was not satisfied with. You can see that they clarified that they did inform people, and that others chimed in to thank me for informing them with the post.
Looking at this comment after Nonlinear, I think it holds up. There exists a point at which an org loses the (moral, not legal) right to see questions / a writeup in advance, and Nonlinear was past it. Legal threats, contacting the people you spoke with, and contacting your employer are classic examples of this. I am also sympathetic to journalists covering industries that are known to react strongly, such as oil and tobacco. But the items in the list you provide do not come close to the bar of the org being untrustworthy, and that is the bar I think must be cleared.
Do you mean Leverage or Nonlinear?
Nonlinear, thank you. Edited.