I don’t think that Ben Todd is proposing (5). I think he’s proposing (4), and that this proposed norm would effectively be a tax on criticism. Taxes aren’t as costly as bans, and can be good if they pay for something good enough, but in this case I don’t think it’s worth it.
In particular, applying journalistic standards to criticism of, but not praise of, EA orgs’ behavior seems like a weird position to take if what you’re interested in is improving the quality of public information.
“In other words: the CEO of 80,000 Hours thinks that people should “run critical posts past the organization concerned before posting”, but also thinks that it might not be worth it for GWWC to address such criticisms because they don’t directly contribute to growth or fundraising, and addressing criticisms publicly might “make the organization look bad.”
This cashes out to saying “we don’t want to respond to your criticism, and we also would prefer you didn’t make it in public.”
It’s normal for organizations not to respond to every criticism — the Coca-Cola company doesn’t have to respond to every internet comment that says Coke is unhealthy — but Coca-Cola’s CEO doesn’t go around shushing critics either.”
I think upon reflection that while my statement of 5) is too strong, it’s a plausible reading even there, and one that these comments point to. ie, “shushing critics” isn’t the same thing as explicit censorship, but it’s not that far away.
(Also, Benquo’s comment implies this more directly)
“In particular, applying journalistic standards to criticism of, but not praise of, EA orgs’ behavior seems like a weird position to take if what you’re interested in is improving the quality of public information.”
Ah, that’s a good point about my inconsistency. I will need to think about this more clearly.
I don’t think that Ben Todd is proposing (5). I think he’s proposing (4), and that this proposed norm would effectively be a tax on criticism. Taxes aren’t as costly as bans, and can be good if they pay for something good enough, but in this case I don’t think it’s worth it.
In particular, applying journalistic standards to criticism of, but not praise of, EA orgs’ behavior seems like a weird position to take if what you’re interested in is improving the quality of public information.
Ah, I’m so sorry for misunderstanding you! I came here from another post which quoted Ben T’s comment:
https://srconstantin.wordpress.com/
I think upon reflection that while my statement of 5) is too strong, it’s a plausible reading even there, and one that these comments point to. ie, “shushing critics” isn’t the same thing as explicit censorship, but it’s not that far away.
(Also, Benquo’s comment implies this more directly)
Ah, that’s a good point about my inconsistency. I will need to think about this more clearly.