It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it?

Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by duairc on Thursday October 31, 2013 @07:36PM (#6650840)

I don't know where you're getting this “out of bounds” thing from. I didn't tell anybody to shut up. I didn't tell them that they can't say what they're saying. And even if I did, it's not like I'm in any position of power to force them not have that discussion. I just alluded to the negative consequences of having such a discussion (yes, discussions on the Internet do not exist in a vacuum, and they do have material effects in the real world, therefore we have a responsibility to choose carefully what discussions we have and what we say). People can still choose whether or not they want to have it.

Edit: I know there is no malice intended in this, and it's not directly related to the discussion at hand, but I would appreciate it if people didn't assume that my preferred pronoun set was he/him/his. In general, it's best to use they/them/their unless you've been explicitly asked to use otherwise.

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Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by tptacek on Thursday October 31, 2013 @09:26PM (#6651262)

I looked you up before referring to you as a "he", but if your preferred pronoun is "they", I'm happy to respect that.

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Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by duairc on Thursday October 31, 2013 @09:55PM (#6651355)

Okay, I appreciate that. People generally refer to me as “he”, and I usually don't say anything, but sometimes it bothers me. But that's neither here nor there. I appreciate that you made an effort at least.

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Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by nitrogen on Friday November 01, 2013 @03:08AM (#6652274)

I'm beginning to see the PR value of having a clear, consistent message and sticking to it, which I believe may be the point to which your fellow commenter alludes.

A willingness by one side of a debate to consider arguments that favor the other side could be perceived (or misrepresented) as weakness and counted in favor of the debating opponent.

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Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by ctoth on Friday November 01, 2013 @01:43PM (#6655123)

You're eluding to http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/

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Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by mpyne on Friday November 01, 2013 @04:08PM (#6656055)

Well, that was the same theory behind the Republican effort to defund Obamacare by shutting down the government and breaking the debt ceiling. Stay relentlessly on message and get what you want. Obviously, that was not a PR success.

I prefer the system where we actually talk to each other to see which ideas make sense and which ones are insane instead of trying to debate via religion.

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Re:It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it? by nitrogen on Friday November 01, 2013 @06:22PM (#6656906)

Well, that was the same theory behind the Republican effort to defund Obamacare by shutting down the government and breaking the debt ceiling. Stay relentlessly on message and get what you want. Obviously, that was not a PR success.

We're not congress, though, we're an interest group. We want congresspeople to debate, reason, and compromise; we ideally want interest groups to do the same, but I fear it may be necessary for at least some of us to be relentlessly consistent in our appearance, to counteract the relentlessness of the other sides (NSA, RIAA, etc.).

I prefer the system where we actually talk to each other to see which ideas make sense and which ones are insane instead of trying to debate via religion.

So do I, but we don't necessarily exist within that system.

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