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There’s an alternate universe where no assholes are allowed to progress, and someone is saying “If we let people be assholes, think of what great things they co

by ken 6y ago

There’s an alternate universe where no assholes are allowed to progress, and someone is saying “If we let people be assholes, think of what great things they could accomplish”. And another (like the Evil Star Trek universe) where everyone is a gigantic asshole, and someone is saying “If we weren’t such assholes all the time, maybe we could still accomplish good things, and not hate each other”. Is there anything special about the level of asshood we’re willing to put up with? Is this some kind of global maximum? AFAICT, it’s merely a local maximum of “as big of an asshole as you can be without the general public realizing that you’re an asshole“. Maybe we should aspire to be better, and ask more of our leaders. That’s a pretty low bar.

Nasrudith 6y ago
Really I think the issue is partially a matter of control and subset constraints. First off if you filter for something goddamn rare in the first place you are far more likely to squander it no matter how good or bad tbe criteria. Of course one thing nobody recognizes about canceling the assholes is tbat the ability for society to control itself means being worse off. There is now an additional axis for manipulation by to take out tall poppies deservedly or not social manipulators will abuse it no matter how pure or reasonable the original motive or metric may be. Or even just natural culture turnint against those not fitting with the toxic norms. And the extreme successes are always outside the norm by definition. Not saying to excuse everything but to have a sense of proportion for the offenses and that society doesn't know jack shit about how to regulate itself historically - its attempts to do so have a track record of causing far more harm than good. "That Semelweiss guy is an asshole saying surgeons should wash their hands! A gentleman's hands are always clean!"

by ken 6y ago

Nasrudith 6y ago

Really I think the issue is partially a matter of control and subset constraints. First off if you filter for something goddamn rare in the first place you are far more likely to squander it no matter how good or bad tbe criteria. Of course one thing nobody recognizes about canceling the assholes is tbat the ability for society to control itself means being worse off. There is now an additional axis for manipulation by to take out tall poppies deservedly or not social manipulators will abuse it no matter how pure or reasonable the original motive or metric may be. Or even just natural culture turnint against those not fitting with the toxic norms. And the extreme successes are always outside the norm by definition. Not saying to excuse everything but to have a sense of proportion for the offenses and that society doesn't know jack shit about how to regulate itself historically - its attempts to do so have a track record of causing far more harm than good. "That Semelweiss guy is an asshole saying surgeons should wash their hands! A gentleman's hands are always clean!"