5 ms·
I'm torn. I get why Troy is doing this and it feels justified from that perspective. But I can't shake the feeling that he is punching down. Is the "White Hat"
by dgb23 5y ago
I'm torn. I get why Troy is doing this and it feels justified from that perspective. But I can't shake the feeling that he is punching down.
Is the "White Hat" doing what Troy says he is doing? It seems so. Many not so technically versed people would maybe even be intimidated or scared by the approach. It is objectively wrong (without further circumstance).
But I think it can be attributed to unprofessional and incompetent behavior rather than malice. Troy is in a position of power and wisdom in this case. He _could_ try and educate/correct the actor by firmly rejecting his request and clearly stating what the issue is without trying to embarrass him, let alone publicly shame him.
---
An analogy that came to mind:
Dogs are this way. If a dog acts from a position of weakness (incompetence) and gets into the face of the other dogs, then that dog is "corrected", typically by one that enjoys some form of respect. If the corrected dog reacts accordingly (stops the misbehavior) the other dogs calm down again. The correcting behavior typically starts with very mild body language and then escalates further.
From then on it's settled. Publicly shaming others is a very human thing to do.
---
Again - torn. It feels both right and wrong. I wouldn't do it this way. Not with a person that I assume to be in a relatively weak position.
- throwawaygh 5y ago> he is punching down. Sure. A scammer is probably substantially less well off than a Microsoft executive. Scammers are often not very well-off. That doesn't make their behavior acceptable or impolite to call out. > He _could_ try and educate/correct the actor by firmly rejecting his request and clearly stating what the issue is without trying to embarrass him, let alone publicly shame him. He did try this -- firm rejection, explanation of the issue, and invitation to behave ethically: https://twitter.com/troyhunt/status/1456944080936599557 https://twitter.com/troyhunt/status/1456944080936599557 The response was exactly the sort of response you'd expect when calling out someone committing petty crimes. I suspect if the response had been a sincere apology this blog post might read differently. Or at least not include the bit about this person.
- dgb23 5y agoHmm. I guess I just kind of felt bad for the guy being publicly shamed and I didn't understand the negative impact of his behavior enough. I tried to rationalize my gut feeling.
- Arcuru 5y agoTroy Hunt is not a Microsoft executive - https://www.troyhunt.com/about/ https://www.troyhunt.com/about/ He's a "Microsoft Regional Directory" and a "Microsoft Most Valuable Professional", but those things are very confusingly named. He's not an employee of Microsoft.
- throwawaygh 5y agoAh, thanks for the clarification. Confusing indeed.