On 29-Aug-22 08:05, Ofer Inbar wrote:
On Sun, Aug 28, 2022 at 10:22:10AM -0700,
Dan Harkins <dharkins@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
You know, one thing that no one has mentioned in this entire thread is
to just ignore the poster. If someone says "those people are stupid" you
can just ignore him or her. If someone is repeating himself, or herself,
Now that it's mentioned, I'll mention the counterargument that I
expect a lot of people were already familiar with and is the reason
they didn't bring this up: It doesn't work. The problem is not just
individuals saying "I, personally, don't want to see this" - it's
the shared understanding that this kind of behavior/writing turns
other people away. People we'll never hear from. People who won't
respond to the list to say they disagree with you, or Keith, because
this wasn't an environment they want to deal with at all.
I have to say that this is true, and it's been true for many years.
When I was in the IAB, I felt it necessary to attend to this list,
however annoying it became. I remember that when I stepped down from
the IAB, I immediately left the list. I took a year or two's holiday
before rejoining. I went through a similar cycle when I was in the
IESG.
More recently, I've just become much more efficient at ignoring
threads or individuals, either by automatically filtering them or
rapid application of the Delete key. But not everybody seems able
to do this.
That's one big way this decreases diversity: It whittles the group
down, gradually, to mostly just the people who don't much mind insults
and aggressive language and expressions of personal disrespect.
To be clear, I *do* mind being told that I'm stupid (even when it's
true). I think most people do. If we stay here, it's a trade-off,
like looking for diamonds in a heap of dross.
And
then of course at least a plurality of remaining participants then
agree with each other that it's not a big enough problem to justify
strong efforts to change it.
-- Cos
IMHO that's exactly why we have moderators and I thank them for
doing their job.
Brian
