2 ms·

Do you think you are doing your part to discourage future murderers from publishing manifestos? It's hard for me to follow the logic of how what you describe wo

by daenz 6y ago

Do you think you are doing your part to discourage future murderers from publishing manifestos? It's hard for me to follow the logic of how what you describe works.

TomMarius 6y ago
1) they declare that this is not okay and they won't be reading anything like it 2) people reading the comment will think "maybe this is not the way to make people read my stuff"
orisho 6y ago
While just not reading it likely has no effect, making this public post about it might dissuade others from reading and discourage manifesto publishing.
- daenz 6y ago
  It seems like their energy is better spent educating themselves on the controversial material so that they can explain to people why they think the conclusions in it are wrong. FWIW, I'm actually made more curious when people discourage me from reading something, so they may want to rethink the actual impact of that strategy.
  - orisho 6y ago
    I'm not though. It had the intended effect on me. I don't believe what he has to say is so revolutionary that I'm missing much by not reading it, and I agree with the sentiment that I'm respecting the Unabomber's goals by reading it - so I just wont. Good ideas are a dime a dozen, the tricky part is execution. Fortunately, murder is usually an ineffective way to affect public policies.
michaelt 6y ago
If you pay attention to your pet every time it misbehaves, you wouldn't be surprised when it learns to misbehave whenever it wants your attention. Some people fear the same applies to mad bombers and school shooters and terrorists: If misbehaving gets you in the news, makes you famous and gets books written about you...
bad-apple 6y ago
You seem to have it backwards. The goal is to discourage future manifesto-publishers from murdering. Just as school shootings used to be a good way to get your face on TV, murder is a good way to market your manifesto. We can fix that.
emiliobumachar 6y ago
It's not about discouraging future murderers from publishing manifestos, it's about discouraging future manifesto-writers from murdering. It's quite simple logic really. The less attention terrorists get, the less appealing terrorism becomes as a means to get attention. See also: "The surest defense against terrorism is to refuse to be terrorized." https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2006/08/refuse_to_be_terrori.html https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2006/08/refuse_to_b...

by daenz 6y ago

Do you think you are doing your part to discourage future murderers from publishing manifestos? It's hard for me to follow the logic of how what you describe works.

TomMarius 6y ago

1) they declare that this is not okay and they won't be reading anything like it 2) people reading the comment will think "maybe this is not the way to make people read my stuff"

orisho 6y ago

While just not reading it likely has no effect, making this public post about it might dissuade others from reading and discourage manifesto publishing.

daenz 6y ago
It seems like their energy is better spent educating themselves on the controversial material so that they can explain to people why they think the conclusions in it are wrong. FWIW, I'm actually made more curious when people discourage me from reading something, so they may want to rethink the actual impact of that strategy.
- orisho 6y ago
  I'm not though. It had the intended effect on me. I don't believe what he has to say is so revolutionary that I'm missing much by not reading it, and I agree with the sentiment that I'm respecting the Unabomber's goals by reading it - so I just wont. Good ideas are a dime a dozen, the tricky part is execution. Fortunately, murder is usually an ineffective way to affect public policies.

michaelt 6y ago

If you pay attention to your pet every time it misbehaves, you wouldn't be surprised when it learns to misbehave whenever it wants your attention. Some people fear the same applies to mad bombers and school shooters and terrorists: If misbehaving gets you in the news, makes you famous and gets books written about you...

bad-apple 6y ago

You seem to have it backwards. The goal is to discourage future manifesto-publishers from murdering. Just as school shootings used to be a good way to get your face on TV, murder is a good way to market your manifesto. We can fix that.

emiliobumachar 6y ago

It's not about discouraging future murderers from publishing manifestos, it's about discouraging future manifesto-writers from murdering. It's quite simple logic really. The less attention terrorists get, the less appealing terrorism becomes as a means to get attention. See also: "The surest defense against terrorism is to refuse to be terrorized." https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2006/08/refuse_to_be_terrori.html https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2006/08/refuse_to_b...