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Get virtue signaling out of software communities.

bananocurrency 7y ago
this is a pretty enlightened opinion to have. I have a feeling virtue signaling changes meaning depending on who's doing the signaling.
danharaj 7y ago
What is virtue signaling?
- davidw 7y ago
  When people on the left say things that people on the right dislike. Serious answer: there's a theory that some people say things just to impress their friends of the same ideological stripes (although the charge is usually leveled against those on the left), rather than actually placing much importance on those things. For instance, the github people opposed to the ICE contract are just doing it to "look good" in the eyes of their peers rather than actually, say, caring about kids locked up in cages and the other nasty things that an unleashed ICE is doing. I think it's mostly a BS theory.
- mcbits 7y ago
  Originally, disingenuous words and actions intended to build rapport with people of a particular ideological persuasion. Nowadays, nothing, in the same sense that quantum foam is nothing.
- camel_Snake 7y ago
  You know how virtually all American politicians end their speeches with 'and God bless America'? That's a great example of virtue signalling. It doesn't really add anything of substance to the conversation, but does convey that 'I believe in God too', which is presumably a good thing to the electorate.
vzidex 7y ago
>noun: virtue signalling >the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral correctness of one's position on a particular issue. By definition this isn't virtue signalling, GitHub is putting $300k of their own money where their mouth is.
- andonisus 7y ago
  This is virtue signalling according the very definition you provided. Just because they are also backing it up with money does not make not virtue signalling. I'm simply tired of having politics injected into technology and software companies whose own software is itself apolitical.
  - camel_Snake 7y ago
    They aren't solely expressing opinions though. They are backing it up with action. You may doubt their sincerity but that alone qualifies it as more than virtue signalling.
    - andonisus 7y ago
      Virtue signaling doesn't mean solely expressing opinions... I don't doubt their sincerity at all. I believe that companies selling apolitical software services should not care about policing what customers use their software. We are talking about software that tracks changes of software, not facial recognition or drone firmware. Obviously, Github believes otherwise.
marmada 7y ago
Virtue signaling is one of those weird alt-righty/Jordan Peterson terms I here a lot. It seems to be thrown around a lot, even when people are putting their money where their mouth is.
- ignorereality 7y ago
  Jordan Peterson has nothing to do with the "alt-right" or any of your other Marxist conspiracy theories.

this is a pretty enlightened opinion to have. I have a feeling virtue signaling changes meaning depending on who's doing the signaling.

danharaj 7y ago

What is virtue signaling?

davidw 7y ago
When people on the left say things that people on the right dislike. Serious answer: there's a theory that some people say things just to impress their friends of the same ideological stripes (although the charge is usually leveled against those on the left), rather than actually placing much importance on those things. For instance, the github people opposed to the ICE contract are just doing it to "look good" in the eyes of their peers rather than actually, say, caring about kids locked up in cages and the other nasty things that an unleashed ICE is doing. I think it's mostly a BS theory.
mcbits 7y ago
Originally, disingenuous words and actions intended to build rapport with people of a particular ideological persuasion. Nowadays, nothing, in the same sense that quantum foam is nothing.
camel_Snake 7y ago
You know how virtually all American politicians end their speeches with 'and God bless America'? That's a great example of virtue signalling. It doesn't really add anything of substance to the conversation, but does convey that 'I believe in God too', which is presumably a good thing to the electorate.

vzidex 7y ago

>noun: virtue signalling >the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral correctness of one's position on a particular issue. By definition this isn't virtue signalling, GitHub is putting $300k of their own money where their mouth is.

andonisus 7y ago
This is virtue signalling according the very definition you provided. Just because they are also backing it up with money does not make not virtue signalling. I'm simply tired of having politics injected into technology and software companies whose own software is itself apolitical.
- camel_Snake 7y ago
  They aren't solely expressing opinions though. They are backing it up with action. You may doubt their sincerity but that alone qualifies it as more than virtue signalling.
  - andonisus 7y ago
    Virtue signaling doesn't mean solely expressing opinions... I don't doubt their sincerity at all. I believe that companies selling apolitical software services should not care about policing what customers use their software. We are talking about software that tracks changes of software, not facial recognition or drone firmware. Obviously, Github believes otherwise.

marmada 7y ago

Virtue signaling is one of those weird alt-righty/Jordan Peterson terms I here a lot. It seems to be thrown around a lot, even when people are putting their money where their mouth is.

ignorereality 7y ago
Jordan Peterson has nothing to do with the "alt-right" or any of your other Marxist conspiracy theories.