On 1/12/16 5:58 PM, Stanislav Malyshev wrote:
But we can not change the conduct of "whole of internals as a group".
Yes we can!
Let's say *we* would improve our conduct. I mean *we* as literally you
and me: two individuals. As a result the conduct of "whole of internals
as a group" would improve a bit. If improving our own individual conduct
was deliberate then I think we could say that *we* changed the conduct
of "whole of internals as a group" a bit.
Now let's say *several individuals* would improve their conduct. The
change in the conduct of "whole of internals as a group" is larger. And
*they* effected the change.
Since programmers like us are skilled with variables and inference, we
can try this over some more descriptors of sets of individuals such as
'several more individuals', 'many people', 'half the regulars', and so
forth.
So I am sure we *can* change the conduct of "whole of internals as a
group".
More speculative but interesting are descriptors like 'a few key
Internals participants', 'some of the thought leaders on Internals',
'the most prolific contributors of poor conduct in Internals', and so
on, whatever these terms may mean, use your imagination, invent more.
It's really fascinating to ponder this and it gives me hope.
Increasing the speculation a bit more, people typically try to fit in to
their social context (which, incidentally, is part of Internals' culture
problem). How many of the most influential voices here need to change
before we see others following the lead and yet others introducing
themselves?
Even further, what if some of these took it upon themselves to try to
steer others to better conduct from time to time?
Here’s how: *STOP BEING TOXIC*. How? I dunno. I’m open to ideas. I’m
So, let's proceed to ideas?
Culture is not easy to change but it can be done. Every individual here
has a moral choice (in the philosopher's sense) how they contribute to
that culture. If people want to reduce overall toxicity and are willing
to make some effort, I can see a path forwards based on the ideas above.
What does it take for any given individual to change their habits of
communication in Internals? Lots of things, I suppose. And it's probably
not easy. But I think only pathological cases are incapable.
One obvious question is: Who goes first? In other words, how do I
benefit if I become civil and others don't.
Another: Is there any need for or value in trying to organize this a
bit? I think so.
I imagine there are good sources of information on effective
communications in various contexts. So perhaps Internals could adopt
something as their style guide, so to speak, that's voluntary but
recommended. It would be useful in a number of ways, one being something
specific to point at when asking a correspondent to modify her or his
style. While it addresses a different problem, Raymond's "How To Ask
Questions The Smart Way," is quite well know. It at least supports the
notion that The Internals Style Guide I imagine could possibly exist.
Finally, I remarked yesterday that the current Internals culture serves
a political purpose: to support the existing power hierarchy. That's
rather pessimistic but there remains hope if one believes power can be
exerted effectively through good conduct.
[Btw: I prefer to divorce this question of Internals culture from the
effort to establish a Code of Conduct to prepare for, help prevent and
recover from cases of online harassment. I think the two matters benefit
from different kinds of solution and I only mean to address the former
in this email.]
Tom
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