[Last-Call] Re: Last Call: BCP 83 PR-Action for Timothy Mcsweeney

[Tim Bray <tbray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jun 14, 2024 at 10:28:00 PM, Keith Moore <moore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm always reminded that trying to build consensus among people of widely varying experiences is difficult and often frustrating work, and people sometimes don't handle that frustration well.   I'm also reminded that neurodivergent individuals (which includes but isn't limited to highly intelligent individuals) are constantly struggling to function in a world that literally makes little sense to them, and whose conventions often seem opaque, mystifying and/or even destructive.   Many such individuals have made significant contributions to the Internet (whether or not through IETF).   But there are constant pressures to silence them and/or demand that they be "normal" (or "professional" in some meanings of the word).   I think that's as evil as any other kind of prejudice against something that someone didn't choose for themself.

We are not, nor should we be, amateur psychiatrists.  I am among the many who left ietf@ because of what I perceived as repeated hyperoverentitled childish toxicity, and life is just too short.  Maybe the people who were doing it had pathologies that explained their behavior. Maybe they were just trolls.  We can’t know.  Maybe they had made brilliant contributions, but so what: My decades in engineering professions have taught me that the consequences of tolerating disruptive assholes because they’re smart are overwhelmingly negative.

We can and do  know that an online group activity that chooses not to defend itself from unacceptable behavior will become less effective and likely irrelevant. 

It is sane, reasonable, and humane to exclude from group conversations those who are repeatedly and consistently damaging to those conversations. It is unreasonable not to.

 -Tim

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