AlexMennen comments on New censorship: against hypothetical violence against identifiable people - Less Wrong
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I'm started to feel strongly uncomfortable about this, but I'm unsure if that's reasonable. Here's some arguments ITT that are concerning me:
Violence is a very slippery concept. Perhaps it is not the best one to base mod rules on. (more at end)
This one is really disturbing to me. I don't like all the self-conscious talk about how we are percieved outside. Maybe we need to fork LW, to accomplish it, but I want to be able to discuss what's true and good without worrying about getting moderated. My post-rationality opinions have already diverged so far from the mainstream that I feel I can't talk about my interests in polite society. I don't want this here too.
If I see any mod action that could be destroyed by the truth, I will have to conclude that LW management is borked and needs to be forked. Until then I will put my trust in the authorities here.
Yeah seriously. What if violence is the right thing to do? (EDIT: Derp. Don't discuss it in public, (except for stuff like Konkvistador's piracy and reaction advocacy, which are supposed to be public))
This is important. If the poster in question agrees when it is pointed out that their post is stupid, go ahead and delete it. But if they disagree in some way that isn't simple defiance, please take a long look at why.
In general, two conclusions:
I support censorship, but only if it is based on the unaccountable personal opinion of a human. Anything else is too prone to lost purposes. If a serious rationalist (e.g. EY) seriously thinks about it and decides that some post has negative utility, I support its deletion. If some unintelligent rule like "no hypothetical violence" decides that a post is no good, why should I agree? Simple rules do not capture all the subtlety of our values; they cannot be treated as Friendly.
And, as usual, that which can be destroyed by the truth should be. If moderator actions start serving some force other than truth and good, LW, or at least the subset dedicated to truth and rationality, should be forked.
It makes sense to have mod discretion, but it also makes sense to have a list of rules that the mods can point to so that people whose posts get censored are less likely to feel that they are being personally targeted.
Yes. Explanatory rules are good. Letting the rules drive is not.
These are explanations, not rules, check.
Hence "may at the admins' option be censored"