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I'm African and should be very disgusted by this person's views (I am) [1] However, the views were written under a pseudonym years ago and has no bearing on te

I'm African and should be very disgusted by this person's views (I am) [1] However, the views were written under a pseudonym years ago and has no bearing on technology. Basically, these were anonymous talks jotted down somewhere. It is shocking that this person John Sterling canceling this talk thinks it's a good idea to permanently sentence a person for what the wrote UNDER A PSEUDONYM years ago and may or may not longer think the thoughts. This is the height of intolerance I have ever seen. Left to this guy, thinking absurd stuff today about various issues (not even acting on it) should banish on from society when it is discovered in 2 decades. I unreservedly condemn such intolerance and declare it far more dangerous than folks who think Africans are a lower species. One is an uneducated thought the other a dangerous totalitarian action. [1]https://twitter.com/aphyr/status/606576005667504129 https://twitter.com/aphyr/status/606576005667504129

jonsterling 11y ago
Curtis Yarvin still believes what he said years ago; he has written as much today on Reddit. I would not have made the decision I did if he had renounced his prior views. Lord knows, I had very regressive political views once upon a time, though never as horrid as his.
- OoTheNigerian 11y ago
  But really, don't you think it's ok to have very "offensive" beliefs? I hope you are aware it was once reprehensible to think the earth revolved around the Sun and you can get killed for "blasphemy" I believe you are operating under the same principles of censorship AND punishment for ideas you do not agree with. I'm sure you you strongly believe his are "obviously bad". But that's how people in the places above think too. Now, it would have been very different if his political views were a topic of conversation at the conference but to the best of my knowledge aren't. So how do both of them tie up. I do not know what your religion or denomination is (or if you have one) but I know a lot of people who will not let you work for them (say develop a website) if you do not in private believe that Jesus is your personal Lord and savior. You are acting alike sir. PS: 1. Would you act the same if it was a black dude that wrote the same thing/has the same ideas he has? 2. To what extent should he be ostracized? Can he get investment in your VC firm for a photo app? Get a job at your company managing servers? Open a bank account? Thanks for taking the time to respond. PPS: What he wrote is very very insulting and reprehensible to me and I'm sure many others.
  - jonsterling 11y ago
    My belief (which you are free to disagree with!) is that the nature of Yarvin's public statements disqualifies him from acting in good faith with the broader community, at least until he has withdrawn them. I feel that each person is a whole human being, and I do not believe that someone can just leave something like "Blacks are suited to slavery, Europeans to mastery!" at the door. Even if he could, it wouldn't do anything for our speakers and attendees who are not comfortable sharing a stage or a room with him. My job as an event organizer is to make sure that conditions are comfortable for the people who have entrusted me with their safety. I did my best, but to be honest, every possible choice before me was distasteful, and I chose the least odious path I could. I decline to answer your questions about hypotheticals (a black person who says the same thing, or a hypothetical VC firm, etc.). I believe these are interesting questions, but I do not believe that anyone can come up with a set of rules or laws that captures precisely the outcomes we wish to see; as a result, I retreat to a far less ambitious perspective, where I intend to deal with things like this on a case-by-case basis using empathy and common sense, taking the unique circumstances into account. I hope that this helps, and I recognize that you may not agree with the choice that I made. But I did my best.
    - colin_fraizer 11y ago
      "My belief (which you are free to disagree with)". However, you are not free to express such disagreement or even discuss it. Expressing ideas with which the "right people" disagree is grounds for scorched-earth attacks on every aspect of your life until you can be brought to heel. (I find slavery and support for such reprehensible. Such ideas should be openly confronted and countered directly by expressing superior ideas. For example, the idea that all human beings have inherent value and should not be subject to the use of force inherent in slavery.) (While I'm criticizing ideas, I'll criticize a couple more: 1. It is deceptive to imply there is was some threat to the safety of attendees. (The linguistic sleight of hand of "physical and emotional safety" is the giveaway. It combines and attempts to equate two unlike things.) 2. The repeated references to "solidarity" are a dressed up form of tribalism, placing loyalty to "us" or "our team" over clear thinking. (It's the left's equivalent to how some on the right use "patriotism".))
- setra 11y ago
  The virtue of tolerance is not very virtuous if you don't have to tolerate anything.
  - masklinn 11y ago
    Not tolerating intolerance is very different than "not tolerating anything". Popper argued that it is proper and warranted to refuse to tolerate intolerance, and Rawls noted that a reasonable right to self-preservation supersedes the principle of tolerance.
    - thescribe 11y ago
      I can tolerate anything except the out-group[0] [0]http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything...
    - teacup50 11y ago
      Everyone advocating for suppressing others always believes they hold the ethical high ground. Sometimes they do. The problem is when they don't, those tools of suppression work just as well. USSR: "[We call for] painless but full liquidation of the monasteries, as chief centers of the influence of the churchmen, as nurseries of parasitism, as powerful screws in the exploiting machine of the old ruling classes." USA: "We will not knowingly employ a Communist ... In pursuing this policy, we are not going to be swayed by hysteria or intimidation from any source. We are frank to recognize that such a policy involves danger and risks. There is the danger of hurting innocent people. There is the risk of creating an atmosphere of fear. Creative work at its best cannot be carried on in an atmosphere of fear. We will guard against this danger, this risk, this fear." "... We request Congress to enact legislation to assist American industry to rid itself of subversive, disloyal elements." China: "Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds, and stage a comeback." "[Our]  objective  is  to  struggle  against  and  crush  those  persons  in  authority  who are  taking  the  capitalist  road,  to  criticize  and  repudiate  the  reactionary  bourgeois  academic  “authorities”  and  the  ideology  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  all  other exploiting  classes"
- eugeneionesco 11y ago
  Please provide proofs for you accusations.
- teacup50 11y ago
  Curtis Yarvin seems to have some really stupid ideas, but the only reason we're wasting time discussing them is because people like yourself felt it appropriate to introduce them in an unrelated context while asking everyone to pass judgement on their basis. There's a time and a place for that discussion, if you seriously want to spend time making sense of Yarvis' views in the first place. However, evaluating his proposal for a technical conference is not an adequate venue for reviewing and passing judgement on someone's broader world views. I'm also not comfortable attempting to define exactly what degree of "unacceptable" Yarvis inhabits, or what line(s) exist that justify exclusion from professional conferences, but that's exactly what you're asking us to do. Furthermore, you're asking us to accept a precedent of excluding those that hold views that the majority finds unsavory, as if there's not significant consistently negative historical precedent demonstrating the volatility and danger of doing exactly that.
  - erichocean 11y ago
    Obligatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
- mjs 11y ago
  > The program committee feel that we cannot possibly organize a workshop under the umbrella of a conference that values the free expression of racist and fascist views over the physical and emotional safety of its attendees and speakers… From reading the link, I would assume that no "racist and fascist views" will be aired or otherwise expressed at the conference: it's a technical conference, it's against the pledge of conduct, and in addition the organizers sought out a public statement from the speaker "clearly stating the speaker’s views on violence," which they duly got. Do you not believe them?
  - x0x0 11y ago
    Many (me included) consider the inclusion of such a speaker as tacit endorsement of the acceptability of such views. One of the results of holding and espousing deeply racist views should be exclusion from society.
    - paulddraper 11y ago
      So YOU'RE to blame... Thanks for nothing
    - mjs 11y ago
      That's a reasonable position, but that's not what the argument for cancelling the conference was. The argument was that the speaker's presence would threaten the "physical and emotional safety of its attendees and speakers." This appears to be completely unsupported by the facts.
- bhitov 11y ago
  I read the entirety of his AmA and did not once see him "advocate for slavery". Could you directly link to where he does and quote him? for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4bxf6f/im_curtis_yarvin_developer_of_urbit_ama/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4bxf6f/im_curtis_yarv...
jacknews 11y ago
I agree. They may be disgusting views, but I think the lamdaconf guys have it right; "Conduct versus belief". Assuming the speaker behaves in a manner appropriate for a tech conference, his other beliefs should not be an issue. And to sanction someone merely for their beliefs (however appalling) is itself completely disgusting; George Orwell must be turning in his grave.
gaur 11y ago
> thinks it's a good idea to permanently sentence a person The courts have not been involved, so there is no sentencing going on. > This is the height of intolerance I have ever seen. Then you haven't really seen much. See, for example, any instance where intolerance has been enshrined in the US legal system. That's way worse than somebody cancelling a programming conference. It's almost comical that you call this "the height of intolerance", given how trivial it is to find worse examples of intolerance. > One is an uneducated thought the other a dangerous totalitarian action. I don't think you understand what "totalitarian" means. It means "a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible" [0]. None of that is going on here: the government isn't even involved. You're just using "totalitarian" as a vague insult, like "fascist". In a non-totalitarian society, you are free to organize your own conference wherein you invite (or disinvite) whomever you please. The same applies to the organizers of PrlConf (or indeed LambdaConf). That's exactly what's happened. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism
rwallace 11y ago
I agree completely. A liberal society is one in which we can work with people who hold views we disagree with, even views we find reprehensible. A society in which only one set of views is permitted to exist is a totalitarian society. We spent so many lives fighting totalitarianism when it came from the Nazis, the Communists, the Islamic fundamentalists; to smuggle it in again under a mask of liberalism is a betrayal of everything the Enlightenment once represented.

jonsterling 11y ago

Curtis Yarvin still believes what he said years ago; he has written as much today on Reddit. I would not have made the decision I did if he had renounced his prior views. Lord knows, I had very regressive political views once upon a time, though never as horrid as his.

OoTheNigerian 11y ago
But really, don't you think it's ok to have very "offensive" beliefs? I hope you are aware it was once reprehensible to think the earth revolved around the Sun and you can get killed for "blasphemy" I believe you are operating under the same principles of censorship AND punishment for ideas you do not agree with. I'm sure you you strongly believe his are "obviously bad". But that's how people in the places above think too. Now, it would have been very different if his political views were a topic of conversation at the conference but to the best of my knowledge aren't. So how do both of them tie up. I do not know what your religion or denomination is (or if you have one) but I know a lot of people who will not let you work for them (say develop a website) if you do not in private believe that Jesus is your personal Lord and savior. You are acting alike sir. PS: 1. Would you act the same if it was a black dude that wrote the same thing/has the same ideas he has? 2. To what extent should he be ostracized? Can he get investment in your VC firm for a photo app? Get a job at your company managing servers? Open a bank account? Thanks for taking the time to respond. PPS: What he wrote is very very insulting and reprehensible to me and I'm sure many others.
- jonsterling 11y ago
  My belief (which you are free to disagree with!) is that the nature of Yarvin's public statements disqualifies him from acting in good faith with the broader community, at least until he has withdrawn them. I feel that each person is a whole human being, and I do not believe that someone can just leave something like "Blacks are suited to slavery, Europeans to mastery!" at the door. Even if he could, it wouldn't do anything for our speakers and attendees who are not comfortable sharing a stage or a room with him. My job as an event organizer is to make sure that conditions are comfortable for the people who have entrusted me with their safety. I did my best, but to be honest, every possible choice before me was distasteful, and I chose the least odious path I could. I decline to answer your questions about hypotheticals (a black person who says the same thing, or a hypothetical VC firm, etc.). I believe these are interesting questions, but I do not believe that anyone can come up with a set of rules or laws that captures precisely the outcomes we wish to see; as a result, I retreat to a far less ambitious perspective, where I intend to deal with things like this on a case-by-case basis using empathy and common sense, taking the unique circumstances into account. I hope that this helps, and I recognize that you may not agree with the choice that I made. But I did my best.
  - colin_fraizer 11y ago
    "My belief (which you are free to disagree with)". However, you are not free to express such disagreement or even discuss it. Expressing ideas with which the "right people" disagree is grounds for scorched-earth attacks on every aspect of your life until you can be brought to heel. (I find slavery and support for such reprehensible. Such ideas should be openly confronted and countered directly by expressing superior ideas. For example, the idea that all human beings have inherent value and should not be subject to the use of force inherent in slavery.) (While I'm criticizing ideas, I'll criticize a couple more: 1. It is deceptive to imply there is was some threat to the safety of attendees. (The linguistic sleight of hand of "physical and emotional safety" is the giveaway. It combines and attempts to equate two unlike things.) 2. The repeated references to "solidarity" are a dressed up form of tribalism, placing loyalty to "us" or "our team" over clear thinking. (It's the left's equivalent to how some on the right use "patriotism".))
setra 11y ago
The virtue of tolerance is not very virtuous if you don't have to tolerate anything.
- masklinn 11y ago
  Not tolerating intolerance is very different than "not tolerating anything". Popper argued that it is proper and warranted to refuse to tolerate intolerance, and Rawls noted that a reasonable right to self-preservation supersedes the principle of tolerance.
  - thescribe 11y ago
    I can tolerate anything except the out-group[0] [0]http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything...
  - teacup50 11y ago
    Everyone advocating for suppressing others always believes they hold the ethical high ground. Sometimes they do. The problem is when they don't, those tools of suppression work just as well. USSR: "[We call for] painless but full liquidation of the monasteries, as chief centers of the influence of the churchmen, as nurseries of parasitism, as powerful screws in the exploiting machine of the old ruling classes." USA: "We will not knowingly employ a Communist ... In pursuing this policy, we are not going to be swayed by hysteria or intimidation from any source. We are frank to recognize that such a policy involves danger and risks. There is the danger of hurting innocent people. There is the risk of creating an atmosphere of fear. Creative work at its best cannot be carried on in an atmosphere of fear. We will guard against this danger, this risk, this fear." "... We request Congress to enact legislation to assist American industry to rid itself of subversive, disloyal elements." China: "Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds, and stage a comeback." "[Our]  objective  is  to  struggle  against  and  crush  those  persons  in  authority  who are  taking  the  capitalist  road,  to  criticize  and  repudiate  the  reactionary  bourgeois  academic  “authorities”  and  the  ideology  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  all  other exploiting  classes"
eugeneionesco 11y ago
Please provide proofs for you accusations.
teacup50 11y ago
Curtis Yarvin seems to have some really stupid ideas, but the only reason we're wasting time discussing them is because people like yourself felt it appropriate to introduce them in an unrelated context while asking everyone to pass judgement on their basis. There's a time and a place for that discussion, if you seriously want to spend time making sense of Yarvis' views in the first place. However, evaluating his proposal for a technical conference is not an adequate venue for reviewing and passing judgement on someone's broader world views. I'm also not comfortable attempting to define exactly what degree of "unacceptable" Yarvis inhabits, or what line(s) exist that justify exclusion from professional conferences, but that's exactly what you're asking us to do. Furthermore, you're asking us to accept a precedent of excluding those that hold views that the majority finds unsavory, as if there's not significant consistently negative historical precedent demonstrating the volatility and danger of doing exactly that.
- erichocean 11y ago
  Obligatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
mjs 11y ago
> The program committee feel that we cannot possibly organize a workshop under the umbrella of a conference that values the free expression of racist and fascist views over the physical and emotional safety of its attendees and speakers… From reading the link, I would assume that no "racist and fascist views" will be aired or otherwise expressed at the conference: it's a technical conference, it's against the pledge of conduct, and in addition the organizers sought out a public statement from the speaker "clearly stating the speaker’s views on violence," which they duly got. Do you not believe them?
- x0x0 11y ago
  Many (me included) consider the inclusion of such a speaker as tacit endorsement of the acceptability of such views. One of the results of holding and espousing deeply racist views should be exclusion from society.
  - paulddraper 11y ago
    So YOU'RE to blame... Thanks for nothing
  - mjs 11y ago
    That's a reasonable position, but that's not what the argument for cancelling the conference was. The argument was that the speaker's presence would threaten the "physical and emotional safety of its attendees and speakers." This appears to be completely unsupported by the facts.
bhitov 11y ago
I read the entirety of his AmA and did not once see him "advocate for slavery". Could you directly link to where he does and quote him? for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4bxf6f/im_curtis_yarvin_developer_of_urbit_ama/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4bxf6f/im_curtis_yarv...

jacknews 11y ago

I agree. They may be disgusting views, but I think the lamdaconf guys have it right; "Conduct versus belief". Assuming the speaker behaves in a manner appropriate for a tech conference, his other beliefs should not be an issue. And to sanction someone merely for their beliefs (however appalling) is itself completely disgusting; George Orwell must be turning in his grave.

gaur 11y ago

> thinks it's a good idea to permanently sentence a person The courts have not been involved, so there is no sentencing going on. > This is the height of intolerance I have ever seen. Then you haven't really seen much. See, for example, any instance where intolerance has been enshrined in the US legal system. That's way worse than somebody cancelling a programming conference. It's almost comical that you call this "the height of intolerance", given how trivial it is to find worse examples of intolerance. > One is an uneducated thought the other a dangerous totalitarian action. I don't think you understand what "totalitarian" means. It means "a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible" [0]. None of that is going on here: the government isn't even involved. You're just using "totalitarian" as a vague insult, like "fascist". In a non-totalitarian society, you are free to organize your own conference wherein you invite (or disinvite) whomever you please. The same applies to the organizers of PrlConf (or indeed LambdaConf). That's exactly what's happened. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism

rwallace 11y ago

I agree completely. A liberal society is one in which we can work with people who hold views we disagree with, even views we find reprehensible. A society in which only one set of views is permitted to exist is a totalitarian society. We spent so many lives fighting totalitarianism when it came from the Nazis, the Communists, the Islamic fundamentalists; to smuggle it in again under a mask of liberalism is a betrayal of everything the Enlightenment once represented.