See, that sounds innocuous enough. Yet, this essay strikes a chord with me as delineating a real and serious problem.
Best way I can explain why is an anecdote. The other day, someone asked if anyone could recommend a book on JS, and someone else suggested "Javascript: the good parts" by Douglas Crockford. The following exchange occurred:
A: Oh, not Crockford, he's a sexist.
B: Really? I hadn't heard, what'd he do?
A: Ah, I forget.
Turns out, the accusations against Crockford were (as far as I can tell) pretty weak and largely abandoned, but most people never read about that, they just saw the initial salvo and took it as gospel. That's where we are right now - we have gotten to the point where we take accusations of bias seriously, but not yet the point where we always make them that way. We have the power to destroy the careers of bad people, but not yet the responsibility to use it wisely or sparingly. Right now, the result of that is an understandable reticence to speak frankly about controversial topics and to hash out ideas in public, which is what the essay is describing.
Best way I can explain why is an anecdote. The other day, someone asked if anyone could recommend a book on JS, and someone else suggested "Javascript: the good parts" by Douglas Crockford. The following exchange occurred:
A: Oh, not Crockford, he's a sexist.
B: Really? I hadn't heard, what'd he do?
A: Ah, I forget.
Turns out, the accusations against Crockford were (as far as I can tell) pretty weak and largely abandoned, but most people never read about that, they just saw the initial salvo and took it as gospel. That's where we are right now - we have gotten to the point where we take accusations of bias seriously, but not yet the point where we always make them that way. We have the power to destroy the careers of bad people, but not yet the responsibility to use it wisely or sparingly. Right now, the result of that is an understandable reticence to speak frankly about controversial topics and to hash out ideas in public, which is what the essay is describing.