MathiasZaman comments on Open thread, July 28 - August 3, 2014 - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (241)
Impressive.
In the linked article the author mentions that there are multiple definitions of racism and people often aren't clear about which one they use; and then decides to use the one without "..., but only when white people do it" as a default. And says that it is okay if white authors decide to write only white characters, but if they write also non-white characters they should describe their experiences realistically. (Then in the comments someone asks whether saying that every human being is racist doesn't render the word meaningless, and there is no outrage afterwards. Other people mention that calling someone racist is usually used just to silence or insult them.)
I am not sure whether this even should be called "social justice". It just seems like a common sense to me. (This specific article; I haven't read more from the same author yet.)
Somewhat related -- writing this comment I realized that I am kinda judging the sanity of the author by how much I agree with her. When I put it this way, it seems horrible. ("You are sane if and only if you agree with me.") But I admit it is a part of the algorithm I use. Is that a reason to worry? But then I remembered the parable that all correct maps of the same city are necessarily similar to each, although finding a set of similar maps does not guarantee their correctness (they could be copies of the same original wrong map). So, if you spend some time trying to make a map that reflects the territory better, and you believe you are sane enough, you should expect the maps of other sane people to be similar to yours. Of course this shouldn't be your only criterium. But, uhm, extraordinary maps require extraordinary evidence; or at least some evidence.
I'm glad you liked it.
Since I'd have to overcome a really strong ugh field to read it again, I'd like to check on whether my memory of it is correct-- the one thing I didn't like about it was Mohanraj saying (implying?) that if you behave decently you won't be attacked. She was making promises about people who aren't as rational as she is.
Why an ugh field? Those essays came out when racefail was going on, and came with the added info that it took Mohanraj two and a half weeks to write them, and (at least as I read it) I should feel really guilty that a woman of color had to do the work. I just couldn't deal. I'm pretty sure the guilt trip wasn't from Mohanraj.
I read them later, and thought they were good except for the caveat mentioned above.