On Sunday, April 4, 2021, Danny Spitzberg <[1][email protected]> wrote:
Luke, you say “the” purpose of a code of conduct is to destroy communities. i apologise: to clarify: the intent may be to create a safe and welcoming environment. (i did not say having NO code is recommended, again, sorry if i gave that impression) the *effect* on the other hand of toxic CoCs is to blast and smash people psychologically, at the very first moment that they enter the environment, with such a god-awful list that the only thing it achieves is to create an undercurrent of fear and unease. everyone treads on eggshells, interacting with others in constant fear that their actions and words are going to be misunderstood. you may have heard the story that when the EU mandated that anyone on scaffolding had to be harnessed in to rails: the result was that there were *more accidents and deaths*. it is simply a fact of psychology that if you focus on fear and discrimination, you get.... fear and discrimination. *whatever* you focus your attention on, that is what you get. I say, there are many purposes- and one of them is to prevent harassment and harm. great. then that's *all* that needs to be said! in fact, even the word "harassment" may be left out because it is redundant. if someone is "harassed", in 100% of cases it may categorically be deduced that they have been "harmed", yes? therefore why state it twice?? there is however one thing missing from that innocuously simple declaration: a corresponding *positive* statement. a positive statement encourages positive behaviour. paradoxically: a negative statement *actually encourages negative behaviour* because that's what's on everyone's minds. don't think of a pink elephant. i would like to see a code that very simply invites people to: a) do good, and b) never do harm. this basically assumes AND TRUSTS, fundamentally, that people know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. the interesting thing is that by them engaging with a community that has such a simple compact it gives you, the other participants, the right - the RIGHT - as well as the RESPONSIBILITY - to explain it to people for whom, it turns out, do not actually know. (that right and resonsibility extends to ALL participants. categorically including those subjected *to* "harm". and all those *witnessing* such "harm" occurring) all of that WITHOUT poisoning the entire community with some proscriptive behaviours that literally terrorise and poison all participants including those who dreamed up the toxic list. l. -- --- crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: [2]https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68 References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
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