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There's a big difference between saying "This was a low moment for Elon and an example of immature and rude behavior nobody should be proud of" and "Elon is an

There's a big difference between saying "This was a low moment for Elon and an example of immature and rude behavior nobody should be proud of" and "Elon is an evil narcissist who will stop at nothing to eradicate opponents." Elon was mean on Twitter. It's not like he paid people in the Thai government to frame the guy or something - which would seem much more "stop at nothing" to me. I think it's basically the same moral fault, though maybe a slight difference of degree, to accuse a person of being a pedophile on bad evidence as it is to accuse someone of being an evil narcissist out to eradicate on bad evidence.

bambax 5y ago
Musk has 80.9 million followers on Twitter. I have none. He's the richest person in the world. I am not. He publicly accused someone of being a pedophile, who was doing an actually good and useful job, not on "bad" evidence, but in the absence of any evidence of any kind, just out of the meanness of his heart, and then he doubled down on it, while also pretending "pedo" doesn't mean "pedo" (adding cowardice to malevolence). And this was neither his first time or his last. He also didn't help in any manner, his proposed "solution" did not work and only added noise to a difficult situation. Also the insult matters. "Pedophile" is currently, in the English speaking world, the worst label imaginable. This was not just any insult, the kind one says when they're annoyed at someone in traffic for example. This was intended to kill. It was extremely mean. I maintain it revealed his true character. But you're free to think I reveal mine.
- ALittleLight 5y ago
  It's true that Elon is more famous than you are and that makes his actions, and faults, more consequential - but I don't think it changes anything regarding moral faults. If 90 million people came and read your hackernews comment would your moral fault in accusing Elon of being an evil narcissist be made worse? It would be more consequential, but if 90 million readers read it or 90, your actions, and your moral culpability for those actions would remain unchanged. Regarding "evidence" Elon's reasoning, if I recall correctly, was that an adult man moving to Thailand was inherently suspicious for pedophilia. Thailand has some reputation for sex tourism, especially of the underage variety. This is, as I said, bad evidence. Likewise, your belief that Elon is an evil narcissist who will stop at nothing to eradicate opponents is based on bad evidence - the mean/bad tweets. Finally, I don't think that you reveal your character. I don't judge people based on short comments - at least not comments such as these. Just like I don't think Elon's tweets were especially revealing or damaging to his character I don't think your comments are that meaningful for your character.
detaro 5y ago
He wasn't just mean on Twitter, he also paid a private detective and emailed journalists making specific claims about the guy. And after emailing journalists that they should expose the pedophile he then claimed in court to not actually have meant that the guy is a pedophile... sure. "I lost my cool and said something stupid on Twitter" would've been one thing.

bambax 5y ago

Musk has 80.9 million followers on Twitter. I have none. He's the richest person in the world. I am not. He publicly accused someone of being a pedophile, who was doing an actually good and useful job, not on "bad" evidence, but in the absence of any evidence of any kind, just out of the meanness of his heart, and then he doubled down on it, while also pretending "pedo" doesn't mean "pedo" (adding cowardice to malevolence). And this was neither his first time or his last. He also didn't help in any manner, his proposed "solution" did not work and only added noise to a difficult situation. Also the insult matters. "Pedophile" is currently, in the English speaking world, the worst label imaginable. This was not just any insult, the kind one says when they're annoyed at someone in traffic for example. This was intended to kill. It was extremely mean. I maintain it revealed his true character. But you're free to think I reveal mine.

ALittleLight 5y ago
It's true that Elon is more famous than you are and that makes his actions, and faults, more consequential - but I don't think it changes anything regarding moral faults. If 90 million people came and read your hackernews comment would your moral fault in accusing Elon of being an evil narcissist be made worse? It would be more consequential, but if 90 million readers read it or 90, your actions, and your moral culpability for those actions would remain unchanged. Regarding "evidence" Elon's reasoning, if I recall correctly, was that an adult man moving to Thailand was inherently suspicious for pedophilia. Thailand has some reputation for sex tourism, especially of the underage variety. This is, as I said, bad evidence. Likewise, your belief that Elon is an evil narcissist who will stop at nothing to eradicate opponents is based on bad evidence - the mean/bad tweets. Finally, I don't think that you reveal your character. I don't judge people based on short comments - at least not comments such as these. Just like I don't think Elon's tweets were especially revealing or damaging to his character I don't think your comments are that meaningful for your character.

detaro 5y ago

He wasn't just mean on Twitter, he also paid a private detective and emailed journalists making specific claims about the guy. And after emailing journalists that they should expose the pedophile he then claimed in court to not actually have meant that the guy is a pedophile... sure. "I lost my cool and said something stupid on Twitter" would've been one thing.