Ah, so *that's* what you meant. I was definitely a bit confused there. Yeah, I totally get that.
I think that's probably true to varying extents for pretty much everyone. I know I certainly don't bring up my politics all that often in conversation, because it's a super-easy way to get into pointless, unproductive arguments. (Plus it's kind of boorish to sidetrack conversations with politics. *Especially* if one assumes everyone in earshot is of like mind, sadly, because it's easy to be wrong about that, or even just wrong about one particular issue. And then things get all awkward for the people thinking differently.) Too many value judgments in play, and it must be expected that people won't always agree about them, or for those opinions to be mutable.
As regards this particular topic, I think its extreme controversy is another good reason people wouldn't want to bring it up. Only in very rare cases is it possible to say anything that won't make someone, somewhere, incredibly upset about it. No one at Mozilla has ever asked my opinions on the topic (although I've volunteered a little bit once or twice, of my own volition -- which poses none of the same awkwardness of being asked a question with the expectation you'll answer it). I think that's fine. We don't need to know what everyone else thinks, or their reasons for thinking it, to advance an open Internet. Sometimes, as here, more knowledge along these lines doesn't make anyone happier.
Power management, mobile and firmware developer on Linux. Security developer at Aurora. Ex-biologist. mjg59 on Twitter. Content here should not be interpreted as the opinion of my employer. Also on Mastodon.
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Re: I respectfully disagree
Date: 2014-04-04 05:25 am (UTC)I think that's probably true to varying extents for pretty much everyone. I know I certainly don't bring up my politics all that often in conversation, because it's a super-easy way to get into pointless, unproductive arguments. (Plus it's kind of boorish to sidetrack conversations with politics. *Especially* if one assumes everyone in earshot is of like mind, sadly, because it's easy to be wrong about that, or even just wrong about one particular issue. And then things get all awkward for the people thinking differently.) Too many value judgments in play, and it must be expected that people won't always agree about them, or for those opinions to be mutable.
As regards this particular topic, I think its extreme controversy is another good reason people wouldn't want to bring it up. Only in very rare cases is it possible to say anything that won't make someone, somewhere, incredibly upset about it. No one at Mozilla has ever asked my opinions on the topic (although I've volunteered a little bit once or twice, of my own volition -- which poses none of the same awkwardness of being asked a question with the expectation you'll answer it). I think that's fine. We don't need to know what everyone else thinks, or their reasons for thinking it, to advance an open Internet. Sometimes, as here, more knowledge along these lines doesn't make anyone happier.
Jeff Walden