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When you make a call for civility the people most likely to exercise increased self-restraint are those who would in any case tend to be more judicious in how t
by thazework 6y ago
When you make a call for civility the people most likely to exercise increased self-restraint are those who would in any case tend to be more judicious in how they express themselves.
Meanwhile those who spew racist hatred will not be deterred and moreover they will now face lesser pushback calling out their barbarism.
Source: this thread.
- dang 6y agoI didn't make a call for civility. The specific words matter. I haven't read this whole thread, but the parts that I saw definitely did not lack for pushback. The question is how best to push back. Denunciatory rhetoric doesn't work. Its purpose is to provide momentary relief to the denouncer, at the cost of damaging the container and evoking more, not less, hatred from the other side. There are better mechanisms for pushing back against hatred: flagging, downvoting, responding within the site guidelines, and in egregious cases emailing hn@ycombinator.com.