On the emptiness in the concept of neutrality | Hacker News Reader

On the emptiness in the concept of neutrality

lessig.tumblr.com

76 pointsrdl21 comments

The blog post is not "on the emptiness of the concept of neutrality", despite its title. That would have been interesting. Instead, the post just states that inaction isn't neutrality.

It mentions that the concept of neutrality is abused, but the title says the concept of neutrality is entirely empty. Two very different things. That title just abuses the concept even further. I guess Lessig is still good at what he does.

He's as good as he ever was!

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke#Disputed

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Good and evil are highly subjective concepts.

Your point is...?

That quote gets trotted out often, but it's highly meaningless.

How so?

Some people want to cause X (call this "good"), some people want to cause not-X (call this "evil"). If the people who want to cause X fail to act on that want, it makes it more likely that not-X will happen.

There's also the fact that most common definitions of "good" and "evil" tend to align more-or-less along "evil" favoring immediate benefits to self while "good" favors more distant benefits to others, which leads to failure to act tending to associate more with ideals considered "good".

Let's swap "good" and "evil" in your statement:

> Some people want to cause X (call this "evil"), some people want to cause not-X (call this "good"). If the people who want to cause X fail to act on that want, it makes it more likely that not-X will happen.

Terrorist/freedom fighter, whistleblower/enemy informant, "po-tae-to"/"poh-tah-to", etc.

Doesn't matter. "All that is necessary for the triumph of the Lakers is that the rest of the NBA do nothing."

So you're saying that the entire quote is tautalogically meaningless?

No, I'm saying that it's not a exclusively a comment about good and evil, but a comment about doing nothing to prevent an outcome that you don't want. Also "tautologically."

Apologies if my wordcrafting isn't correct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(rhetoric)

"A witty saying proves nothing"

-Voltaire

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"

-Groucho Marx (maybe)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_frui...

"If I don't survive, tell my wife 'hello'."

Or as recently styled,

"The standard you walk past is the standard you accept."

http://boingboing.net/2013/06/13/australian-army-on-institut...

The probable actual quote that's derived from is much more powerfully worded, but harder to remember, and not exactly equivalent:

> When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

I'm so super frustrated and upset about this MIT thing. The hallowed halls that I always associated with all things hacker-ish and who invented many of the key things modern society has come to rely on has truly failed those it spawned.

The loss of context by the MIT staff is just so heart breaking. If I had my true revenge fantasy I'd tear the institution asunder, figuratively. Rebuild it in the true spirit of learning.

Ultimately with the whole fiasco... before the police were involved, No one was Substantially Harmed!

I feel like Boston, MIT and the area has become a dangerous place to not follow the rules. Perhaps its time for another Go West Exodus. Because a part of my brain tells me this whole mess would never have gone down in the bay area.

Come join your brethren my east coast brothers and sisters!

> Because a part of my brain tells me this whole mess would never have gone down in the bay area.

You must not have read "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Stoll. :)

> Ultimately with the whole fiasco... before the police were involved, No one was Substantially Harmed!

Not only was no one harmed, the owner of the rights to access the journals downloaded, JSTOR, explicitly asked to drop the charges.

"You can't be neutral on a moving train."

- Howard Zinn

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