My most charitable interpretation of footnote 1 is this: It’s possible to imagine a profile picture, bio or first post so beyond the pale that the best course of action is to ban that person outright. And if you cannot imagine such a profile picture, bio or first post, then you have a poor imagination.
That would be quite a high bar for me, though. There would have to be overwhelming evidence that this person is going to be a net-negative influence. “They are a self-professed Nazi” would not clear that bar.
Oh, I don’t think there’s a disagreement here. I strong-upvoted the comment I responded to. “We can ban a Nazi because they’re a Nazi.” is a bad rule.
What I’m trying to add to the conversation (apart from an attempted steel-man of that footnote) is that the actual reason we ban people from communities is not because of what they’ve done in the past, but what they’re likely to do in the future if they stay.
Usually we need to observe someone’s actions before we can make such a determination, so it almost always makes sense to give people a fair chance; even a second and third. But I can imagine scenarios where a utility maximizer can be confident much earlier. Even if those scenarios are contrived, it seems important to keep an eye on our terminal values (e.g., keeping the community healthy and prospering), and recognize that our instrumental values may admit of exceptions, lest we become prisoners of our own rules.
My most charitable interpretation of footnote 1 is this: It’s possible to imagine a profile picture, bio or first post so beyond the pale that the best course of action is to ban that person outright. And if you cannot imagine such a profile picture, bio or first post, then you have a poor imagination.
That would be quite a high bar for me, though. There would have to be overwhelming evidence that this person is going to be a net-negative influence. “They are a self-professed Nazi” would not clear that bar.
-
Oh, I don’t think there’s a disagreement here. I strong-upvoted the comment I responded to. “We can ban a Nazi because they’re a Nazi.” is a bad rule.
What I’m trying to add to the conversation (apart from an attempted steel-man of that footnote) is that the actual reason we ban people from communities is not because of what they’ve done in the past, but what they’re likely to do in the future if they stay.
Usually we need to observe someone’s actions before we can make such a determination, so it almost always makes sense to give people a fair chance; even a second and third. But I can imagine scenarios where a utility maximizer can be confident much earlier. Even if those scenarios are contrived, it seems important to keep an eye on our terminal values (e.g., keeping the community healthy and prospering), and recognize that our instrumental values may admit of exceptions, lest we become prisoners of our own rules.