Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown

Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by idle_zealot on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @05:38PM (#47955087)

There's a depressingly common tactic of using the Holocaust to defend current genocide and atrocities, one that has been very effective until recently. It's exactly the kind of strategy that always assuming good faith allows for, and what I'm warning against. Unfortunately, the backlash against allowing bad actors to use victims as a shield is emboldening bigots. Another knock-on danger of the culture of unlimited civility is that it will eventually end and the overcorrection will see a lot undeserving people hurt.

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by ABCLAW on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @07:35PM (#47956102)

This isn't the danger with assuming good faith.

It's the danger with not updating your behavior when the balance of probabilities shows that the individual/group/organization you're dealing with is acting in bad faith.

Our modern era has so many megaphones blaring into the void that it's become significantly more difficult to determine which ones are overtly lying. Accordingly, it's far more difficult to establish a consensus about who's operating in bad faith.

Again, the failure point isn't with the assumption of good faith. It's with not recognizing bad faith when it's made manifest.

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by idle_zealot on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @07:50PM (#47956214)

I agree, that's why I'm talking about unconditional assumption of good faith. I strongly believe in assuming good faith by default, and also in the importance of updating your priors as new information becomes available.

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by TheOtherHobbes on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @06:24PM (#47955526)

Tone policing is a time-honoured tactic for devaluing valid opposition.

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by Pay08 on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @05:48PM (#47955200)

Go fuck yourself you piece of shit.

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by idle_zealot on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @06:43PM (#47955696)

Aw, that's too bad. My comment as originally drafted floated that you might be participating in that tactic, but I changed it because it could've been interpreted as accusatory. I offered you an assumption of good faith, and got burned for it again. Eventually this will train really bad behavior. I promise to try my best to keep it focused on the knowing defenders of genocide and fight the tide of antisemitism you're causing.

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by tomhow on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @09:56PM (#47957170)

Please don't sermonize like you have in this thread. It's not cool to heap blame on one person for vast, complex global societal problems, and it's certainly not what HN is for. This site exists for curious conversation about interesting topics. It's specifically not for ideological battle, and the first rule of commenting on HN is "be kind".

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Re:Third Editor Fired in Elsevier's Citation Cartel Crackdown by tomhow on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @09:59PM (#47957189)

You can't comment like this on HN, no matter who or what you're replying to. I understand it's a heated topic in which everyone was posting escalatory rhetoric, but it's everyone's responsibility to avoid pouring fuel on the flames. Please take a moment to read the guidelines and make an effort to observe them in future.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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