Re: tone policing

[Keith Moore <[e-mail]>]

On 9/3/19 7:35 AM, Ted Lemon wrote:

> That is essentially what PR actions are for.  Repeatedly saying the same thing is an example of  abusive behavior. If you did it in a f2f conversation, people would walk away. Here, they can’t. So we need PR actions.

I respectfully disagree, for multiple reasons.  One is that even a 
judgment of "repeatedly saying the same thing" is itself subjective.   
Especially over email it's normal to refine one's statements over 
time.   To an observer who isn't watching closely, it may look as if a 
speaker is repeatedly saying the same thing, when that is not in fact 
the case.

The second reason is that accusing someone of repeatedly saying the same 
thing (and implied threats of PR) can itself be a bullying tactic and a 
form of abuse.  Trying to suppress discussion on a subject important to 
IETF is not appropriate.

A related reason is that when a person finds himself or herself (or his 
or her ideas) subject to attack from multiple individuals, that person 
is naturally going to need to respond more often.   It should not matter 
how many times a person or that person's ideas are attacked.   Bullies 
in particular don't want to bother to understand the positions of those 
they're attacking, they just want that person to back down through sheer 
intimidation.   What should matter is the quality of the arguments being 
made and whether those arguments show an to understanding of the other 
position(s) and willingness take it/them into account.

Keith