From 04a2e3d8eb8388fad4bcd20d24c38143bfd41525 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Zack M. Davis" Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2023 10:56:10 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] remove MIRIcult archive link Someone argued in my PMs that the link was harmful for spreading private personal information, and I was initially inclined to take a principled anti-censorship stand. (The link is a relevant exhibit about the incident being discussed; I'm not endorsing it or going out of my way to signal-boost it.) Ultimately, I'm deciding to give in because the link isn't very important to my story and it's not worth my time to argue about it. Arguably this means I'm not taking a principled anti-extortion stand, either? On theme! --- content/2023/a-hill-of-validity-in-defense-of-meaning.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/2023/a-hill-of-validity-in-defense-of-meaning.md b/content/2023/a-hill-of-validity-in-defense-of-meaning.md index ceb925a..f1fa287 100644 --- a/content/2023/a-hill-of-validity-in-defense-of-meaning.md +++ b/content/2023/a-hill-of-validity-in-defense-of-meaning.md @@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ Despite our personality and worldview differences, I had had a number of coopera At this meeting, Ziz recounted [her](/2019/Oct/self-identity-is-a-schelling-point/) story of how Anna Salamon (in her capacity as President of CfAR and community leader) allegedly engaged in [conceptual warfare](https://web.archive.org/web/20230601044116/https://sinceriously.fyi/intersex-brains-and-conceptual-warfare/) to falsely portray Ziz as a predatory male. I was unimpressed: in my worldview, I didn't think Ziz had the right to say "I'm not a man," and expect people to just believe that. ([I remember that](https://twitter.com/zackmdavis/status/1081952880649596928) at one point, Ziz answered a question with, "Because I don't run off masochistic self-doubt like you." I replied, "That's fair.") But I did respect that Ziz actually believed in an intersex brain theory: in Ziz and Gwen's worldview, people's genders were a _fact_ of the matter, not a manipulation of consensus categories to make people happy. -Probably the most ultimately consequential part of this meeting was Michael verbally confirming to Ziz that MIRI had settled with a disgruntled former employee, Louie Helm, who had put up [a website slandering them](https://archive.ph/Kvfus). (I don't know the details of the alleged settlement. I'm working off of [Ziz's notes](https://web.archive.org/web/20230601044116/https://sinceriously.fyi/intersex-brains-and-conceptual-warfare/) rather than remembering that part of the conversation clearly myself; I don't know what Michael knew.) What was significant was that if MIRI _had_ paid Helm as part of an agreement to get the slanderous website taken down, then (whatever the nonprofit best-practice books might have said about whether this was a wise thing to do when facing a dispute from a former employee) that would decision-theoretically amount to a blackmail payout, which seemed to contradict MIRI's advocacy of timeless decision theories (according to which you [shouldn't be the kind of agent that yields to extortion](/2018/Jan/dont-negotiate-with-terrorist-memeplexes/)). +Probably the most ultimately consequential part of this meeting was Michael verbally confirming to Ziz that MIRI had settled with a disgruntled former employee, Louie Helm, who had put up a website slandering them. (I don't know the details of the alleged settlement. I'm working off of [Ziz's notes](https://web.archive.org/web/20230601044116/https://sinceriously.fyi/intersex-brains-and-conceptual-warfare/) rather than remembering that part of the conversation clearly myself; I don't know what Michael knew.) What was significant was that if MIRI _had_ paid Helm as part of an agreement to get the slanderous website taken down, then (whatever the nonprofit best-practice books might have said about whether this was a wise thing to do when facing a dispute from a former employee) that would decision-theoretically amount to a blackmail payout, which seemed to contradict MIRI's advocacy of timeless decision theories (according to which you [shouldn't be the kind of agent that yields to extortion](/2018/Jan/dont-negotiate-with-terrorist-memeplexes/)). ---- -- 2.17.1