I didn’t downvote, but I think it’s bad to focus on the optical concerns over the object level concerns about the statement. “This statement if bad because it might reduce engagement with EA” may be true but it’s probably not the first order badness, just like the first order badness of FTX was fraud and not the harms to EA.
There is the other side as well: not only is this bad because one person expressed racist sentiment, but it is particularly bad because that person is considered a thought leader in EA and so this could make the EA community a considerably less welcoming environment for black people ( although I wouldn’t like to speak on their behalf)
Correct. It seems strange to me that there’s a lot of whitewashing happening here. Instead of viewing the situation through an objective lens, some are glossing over the fact that he didn’t truly apologize.
He began his letter with “But I fear that selected pieces of the most offensive stuff will be extracted, maliciously framed and interpreted, and used in smear campaigns,” expressing a wish that this email had remained buried, rather than taking responsibility and not blaming the messenger. This is not an admission of wrongdoing; instead, it shows contempt for anyone asking him to take responsibility for his actions as an adult.
I think the point about PR resources was helpful (although I think they should not be paid by the organization in a case like this). This apology could have been done much better, in a way that would have been more effective in mitigating the harm Bostrom caused to Black people here. I don’t know him at all, but most people who just learned that someone is about to publish an expose about past misbehavior would benefit from someone to help them express their apology more effectively.
Many of us like to criticize PR as an industry, including me, but one of its benefits is that it gets someone who is not emotionally invested in the room in situations with high emotion and time pressure. That can help someone write the statement that they would have written if they had time and space to regain control of their emotions, which the modern news/info cycle does not allow.
I didn’t downvote, but I think it’s bad to focus on the optical concerns over the object level concerns about the statement. “This statement if bad because it might reduce engagement with EA” may be true but it’s probably not the first order badness, just like the first order badness of FTX was fraud and not the harms to EA.
There is the other side as well: not only is this bad because one person expressed racist sentiment, but it is particularly bad because that person is considered a thought leader in EA and so this could make the EA community a considerably less welcoming environment for black people ( although I wouldn’t like to speak on their behalf)
Correct. It seems strange to me that there’s a lot of whitewashing happening here. Instead of viewing the situation through an objective lens, some are glossing over the fact that he didn’t truly apologize.
He began his letter with “But I fear that selected pieces of the most offensive stuff will be extracted, maliciously framed and interpreted, and used in smear campaigns,” expressing a wish that this email had remained buried, rather than taking responsibility and not blaming the messenger. This is not an admission of wrongdoing; instead, it shows contempt for anyone asking him to take responsibility for his actions as an adult.
I think the point about PR resources was helpful (although I think they should not be paid by the organization in a case like this). This apology could have been done much better, in a way that would have been more effective in mitigating the harm Bostrom caused to Black people here. I don’t know him at all, but most people who just learned that someone is about to publish an expose about past misbehavior would benefit from someone to help them express their apology more effectively.
Many of us like to criticize PR as an industry, including me, but one of its benefits is that it gets someone who is not emotionally invested in the room in situations with high emotion and time pressure. That can help someone write the statement that they would have written if they had time and space to regain control of their emotions, which the modern news/info cycle does not allow.