I’ll note that Eugenics-Adjacent’s posts and comments have been mostly about pushing against what they see as EA groupthink. In banning them, I do feel a twinge of “huh, I hope I’m not making the Forum more like an echo chamber.” However, there are tradeoffs at play. “Overrun by flamebait and trolling” seems to be the default end state for most internet spaces: the Forum moderation team is committed to fighting against this default.
All in all, we think the ratio of “good” EA criticism to more-heat-than-light criticism in Eugenics-Adjacent’s contributions is far too low. Additionally, at −220 karma (at the time of writing), Eugenics-Adjacent is one of the most downvoted users of all time—we take this as a clear indication that other users are finding their contributions unhelpful. If Eugenics-Adjacent returns to the Forum, we’ll expect to see significant improvement. I expect we’ll ban them indefinitely if anything like the above continues.
The moderation team is issuing @Eugenics-Adjacent a 6-month ban for flamebait and trolling.
I’ll note that Eugenics-Adjacent’s posts and comments have been mostly about pushing against what they see as EA groupthink. In banning them, I do feel a twinge of “huh, I hope I’m not making the Forum more like an echo chamber.” However, there are tradeoffs at play. “Overrun by flamebait and trolling” seems to be the default end state for most internet spaces: the Forum moderation team is committed to fighting against this default.
All in all, we think the ratio of “good” EA criticism to more-heat-than-light criticism in Eugenics-Adjacent’s contributions is far too low. Additionally, at −220 karma (at the time of writing), Eugenics-Adjacent is one of the most downvoted users of all time—we take this as a clear indication that other users are finding their contributions unhelpful. If Eugenics-Adjacent returns to the Forum, we’ll expect to see significant improvement. I expect we’ll ban them indefinitely if anything like the above continues.
As a reminder, a ban applies to the person behind the account, not just to the particular account.
If anyone has questions or concerns, feel free to reach out or reply in this thread. If you think we’ve made a mistake, you can appeal.