Yes, “lynch” is hyperbole, probably unnecessary (“vilified” seems a bit weak. You might want to tell off these websites for incorrect use of the term “lynching”).
You spend a lot of time addressing the issue of Race and IQ; I am mostly concerned of how Stephanie Grace was treated for what was a quite reasonable private email. In an ancestor comment you wrote:
Then, in an environment dominated numerically by similar people, they find it similarly plausible to think that if they voice a belief that is uncharitable towards, or does not reflect well upon, some social minority or other, they will be...well, it’s not clear what. Censored? Hunted down and sued? I’m not sure what they’re really afraid of, but they’re angry about the idea that it might happen to them.
To me, it’s very clear “what”: what happened to Stephanie Grace. It’s unlikely, but a small chance of having your career ruined is not a risk most people are willing to take. Those chances increase if one of the people involved becomes somewhat famous, or if some well meaning anti-racist (or other) activist takes interest in the discussion. Nobody wants a Google search of their name return a hate page on the first page of results.
What surprises me the most is that you find this unclear, that you don’t understand how that can be a concern for somebody.
To me, it’s very clear “what”: what happened to Stephanie Grace.
Some people she didn’t know said she was a bad person, and then her life went on. She got the job she was intending to get, and hardly anyone will remember the ‘scandal’.
Interesting, thanks; I had briefly googled for that kind of info but hadn’t found any. She is probably somewhat helped by having a pretty common name and surname, but I’m still updating my estimate of “negative consequences for being target of a hate campaign” downwards a bit.
Well, without the threatened torture, house arrest and other problems. On the other hand, she was treated the way she was without trying publish her views and or trying to spread them to the general public. Overall, a Galileo comparison doesn’t work very well.
Ahh, it’s annoying that messed up links just fail to show anything at all. Especially when typing in what is in the imperfectly formatted link (ie. missing http://) into the browser sometimes would work just fine!
You spend a lot of time addressing the issue of Race and IQ;
I was trying to unpack what she actually did—she didn’t just say something unpopular and get burned for it, she said something seriously, massively unwarranted in a sensitive situation where people decided they didn’t like it, and furthermore something that for many people is rather close to a hot-button issue. It is difficult nigh unto impossible to signal effectively in that situation, and even if it shouldn’t be the case that just saying something brings on associations to other, otherwise-unrelated situations, people signalling what she did and how she did it frequently have some really nasty agendas for doing so.
She’s been vilified for it, yes—I’m not downplaying that, but you’re downplaying the actual situation.
What surprises me the most is that you find this unclear, that you don’t understand how that can be a concern for somebody.
Because frankly? Stephanie Grace was a law school student at Harvard University, a high-profile institution, and it seems to be a whole lot more focused on when people do this in situations like that, than when some random person off the street, or in an internet forum, or whatever, just says There are so many venues in which the cost of signalling that is minimal, and this rather-homogenous website in which Vladimir_M is a fairly typical member seems like one of them.
How does your original description not cover the Stephanie Grace case?
Then, in an environment dominated numerically by similar people, they find it similarly plausible to think that if they voice a belief that is uncharitable towards, or does not reflect well upon, some social minority or other, they will be...well, it’s not clear what. Censored? Hunted down and sued? I’m not sure what they’re really afraid of, but they’re angry about the idea that it might happen to them.
It’s clear to me that Stephanie Grace should have been aware that even if in her environment people think like her, voicing a belief that doesn’t reflect well upon blacks is dangerous. No, she won’t be censored or sued, but her prospects will take a sharp turn downwards. She should have been afraid, and maybe angry about what might happen to her if she dared speak honestly, even in a private email.
And yet, you seem to think that she had nothing to be afraid of, and that her being afraid or angry would have been kind of silly and stupid on her behalf (or at least, that’s the impression I get from the way you write).
(Note that I’m not saying this is the main reason sensitive topics should be avoided on LessWrong. There are better reasons to avoid those topics.)
Yes, “lynch” is hyperbole, probably unnecessary (“vilified” seems a bit weak. You might want to tell off these websites for incorrect use of the term “lynching”).
You spend a lot of time addressing the issue of Race and IQ; I am mostly concerned of how Stephanie Grace was treated for what was a quite reasonable private email. In an ancestor comment you wrote:
To me, it’s very clear “what”: what happened to Stephanie Grace. It’s unlikely, but a small chance of having your career ruined is not a risk most people are willing to take. Those chances increase if one of the people involved becomes somewhat famous, or if some well meaning anti-racist (or other) activist takes interest in the discussion. Nobody wants a Google search of their name return a hate page on the first page of results.
What surprises me the most is that you find this unclear, that you don’t understand how that can be a concern for somebody.
Some people she didn’t know said she was a bad person, and then her life went on. She got the job she was intending to get, and hardly anyone will remember the ‘scandal’.
Recent story mentioning her
Interesting, thanks; I had briefly googled for that kind of info but hadn’t found any. She is probably somewhat helped by having a pretty common name and surname, but I’m still updating my estimate of “negative consequences for being target of a hate campaign” downwards a bit.
So basically she pulled a Galileo.
Well, without the threatened torture, house arrest and other problems. On the other hand, she was treated the way she was without trying publish her views and or trying to spread them to the general public. Overall, a Galileo comparison doesn’t work very well.
Is a word missing there? ‘scandal’?
Whoops, I screwed up the formatting, fixed, thanks.
Ahh, it’s annoying that messed up links just fail to show anything at all. Especially when typing in what is in the imperfectly formatted link (ie. missing http://) into the browser sometimes would work just fine!
I was trying to unpack what she actually did—she didn’t just say something unpopular and get burned for it, she said something seriously, massively unwarranted in a sensitive situation where people decided they didn’t like it, and furthermore something that for many people is rather close to a hot-button issue. It is difficult nigh unto impossible to signal effectively in that situation, and even if it shouldn’t be the case that just saying something brings on associations to other, otherwise-unrelated situations, people signalling what she did and how she did it frequently have some really nasty agendas for doing so.
She’s been vilified for it, yes—I’m not downplaying that, but you’re downplaying the actual situation.
Because frankly? Stephanie Grace was a law school student at Harvard University, a high-profile institution, and it seems to be a whole lot more focused on when people do this in situations like that, than when some random person off the street, or in an internet forum, or whatever, just says There are so many venues in which the cost of signalling that is minimal, and this rather-homogenous website in which Vladimir_M is a fairly typical member seems like one of them.
How does your original description not cover the Stephanie Grace case?
It’s clear to me that Stephanie Grace should have been aware that even if in her environment people think like her, voicing a belief that doesn’t reflect well upon blacks is dangerous. No, she won’t be censored or sued, but her prospects will take a sharp turn downwards. She should have been afraid, and maybe angry about what might happen to her if she dared speak honestly, even in a private email.
And yet, you seem to think that she had nothing to be afraid of, and that her being afraid or angry would have been kind of silly and stupid on her behalf (or at least, that’s the impression I get from the way you write).
(Note that I’m not saying this is the main reason sensitive topics should be avoided on LessWrong. There are better reasons to avoid those topics.)