From e23ece92b6a750f1c3672a1cc291d8dd065d2466 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Zack M. Davis" Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2023 21:19:43 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] memoir: REACH vs. Michael, Kelsey vs. Michael --- .../if-clarity-seems-like-death-to-them.md | 35 ++++++++++++++----- notes/memoir-sections.md | 14 ++++++-- 2 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/drafts/if-clarity-seems-like-death-to-them.md b/content/drafts/if-clarity-seems-like-death-to-them.md index 587a8b6..e6a4904 100644 --- a/content/drafts/if-clarity-seems-like-death-to-them.md +++ b/content/drafts/if-clarity-seems-like-death-to-them.md @@ -267,14 +267,33 @@ I said that for me and my selfish perspective, the main outcome was finally shat ------- -[TODO: Michael Vassar and the theory of optimal gossip - * Michael's "position" in the community, already not what it once was, was getting debased even further - * Berkeley REACH investigation; I asked what the charges were; they say it's not a court; I say _I_ don't feel safe in a place that bans Michael for no good reason - * Kelsey says in Discord that Michael is trying to get re-included - * I email her with quotes trying to argue that that's not his game - * She doesn't find the quotes convincing, because she thinks Vassar is a liar - * (sleep?!?) - * I call Ben to the stand, then Sarah ("You're a great prosecutor", I say in the channel) +Michael's reputation in "the community", already not what it once was, continued to be debased even further. + +The local community center, the Berkeley REACH,[^reach-acronym-expansion] was conducting an investigation as to whether to exclude Michael (which was mostly moot, as he didn't live in the Bay Area anyway). When I heard that the subcommittee was "very close to releasing a statement", I wrote to them: + +[^reach-acronym-expansion]: Rationality and Effective Altruism Community Hub + +> I've been collaborating with Michael a lot recently, and I'm happy to contribute whatever information I can to make the report more accurate. What are the charges? + +They replied: + +> To be clear, we are not a court of law addressing specific "charges." We're a subcommittee of the Berkeley REACH Panel tasked with making decisions that help keep the space and the community safe. + +I replied: + +> Allow me to rephrase my question about charges. What are the reasons that the safety of the space and the community require you to write a report about Michael? To be clear, a community that excludes Michael on inadequate evidence is one where _I_ feel unsafe. + +We arranged a call, during which I angrily testified that Michael was no threat to the safety of the space and the community—which would have been a bad idea if it were the cops, but in this context, I figured my political advocacy couldn't hurt. + +Concurrently, I got into an argument with Kelsey Piper about Michael, after she had written on Discord that her "impression of _Vassar_'s threatening schism is that it's fundamentally about Vassar threatening to stir shit up until people stop socially excluding him for his bad behavior". I didn't think that was what the schism was about (Subject: "Michael Vassar and the theory of optimal gossip"). + +In the course of litigating Michael's motivations (the details of which are not interesting enough to summarize), Kelsey mentioned that she thought Michael had done immense harm to me: that my models of the world and ability to reason were worse than they were a year ago. I thanked her for the concern, and asked her to be more specific. + +[TODO: social reality modeling ...] + +What Kelsey saw as "Zack is losing his ability to model other people and I'm worried about him", I think Ben and Jessica would see as "Zack is angry about living in [simulacrum level 3](http://benjaminrosshoffman.com/excerpts-from-a-larger-discussion-about-simulacra/) and we're worried about _everyone else_." + +[TODO— * Kelsey in meatspace tells me that Vassar has a benefactor that she can't name; I'm retarded enough to not infer that it's him and she was obfuscating for compliance ... ] diff --git a/notes/memoir-sections.md b/notes/memoir-sections.md index 06640a2..7bddc07 100644 --- a/notes/memoir-sections.md +++ b/notes/memoir-sections.md @@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ slotted TODO blocks— ✓ Dolphin War finish ✓ lead-in to Sept. 2021 Twitter altercation ✓ out of patience email -_ Michael Vassar and the Theory of Optimal Gossip -_ reaction to Ziz +- Michael Vassar and the Theory of Optimal Gossip _ plan to reach out to Rick / Michael on creepy men/crazy men _ State of Steven +_ reaction to Ziz _ complicity and friendship _ repair pt. 5 dath ilan transition - Eliezerfic fight conclusion @@ -77,6 +77,16 @@ _ cite postYud Tweet _ when EY put a checkmark on my Discord message characterizing his strategy as giving up on intellectual honesty _ cut lots of words from Scotts comments on Jessica's MIRI post (keep: "attempting to erase the agency", Scott blaming my troubles on Michael being absurd) +dath ilan ancillary tier— +_ Who are the 9 most important legislators called? + + +things to discuss with Michael/Ben/Jessica— +_ Anna on Paul Graham +_ compression of Yudkowsky thinking reasoning wasn't useful +_ Michael's SLAPP against REACH + + ------ With internet available— -- 2.17.1