Transcendent values

Transcendental Values

1. Seek Truth.
2. Share Knowledge.
3. Govern Wisely.

Comments

These are transcendental values in the sense that we will never attempt to give them a formal definition. There are two reasons for this. First, we hope these values will never become points of competition within the group. Second they are invitations to anyone who shares these values to join the group. These are ideals toward which all our members continually strive. Those actions then progressively specify the actual meaning of our transcendental values as time goes on.

Regarding each value:

1. Truth is a transcendental value, because nobody knows the perfect truth about any subject. All our theories are incomplete and therefore flawed. We are trying to move toward the Truth, but are conscious of our insufficiency in every attempt. Therefore we strive to cultivate a healthy balance of skepticism and openness to explanations from any source.
2. Since truth can be found in anyone, we seek to educate and share our knowledge as widely as possible with anyone who wishes to help in the project of human improvement. Since we can never actually attain the perfect corpus of knowledge, finding the best way to share knowledge is a transcendent goal we can only ever attempt to improve.
3. Since truth can be found by anyone, we seek to decentralize the power to collectively determine what is important information and what is a better theory. As we advance the corpus of human knowledge and further understanding, we strive to decentralize the control of education, giving such power to those who are best suited to the task. Since we can never actually achieve the ideal distribution of power, finding the ideal governance strategies is a transcendent goal we can only ever attempt to improve.

Governance Philosophy

Individual scientists are quite different entities from the entity known as the science community. So the individual and the group should have different guiding principles.

The group is always in tension with the individual. In order to exist, a group needs its members to sacrifice their incompatible personal goals to serve the higher goal of the group. At the same time, individuals need the group to give them the power to express their personal goals through the nurturing power of collaboration. A group needs individuals, and individuals need groups. The group has the power to stifle or nurture individuals. Individuals have the power to contribute to or disrupt the group. A healthy group-individual combination has individuals who choose to contribute instead of disrupt, and a group which nurtures its members instead of stifling them.

As one basic example of healthy group/individual behavior, consider the issue of transparency vs. privacy. The ideal individual contributor would use their IRL identity in all their online interactions; on the contrary, the ideal group would protect their members' privacy by providing secure encryption technology to allow people to contribute using pseudonyms without fear of retribution.

When a group governs itself, it is important to continually focus on limiting its natural power to stifle the individual. For individuals to govern themselves, it is important they continually focus on limiting their power to disrupt the group. Occasionally, individuals must disrupt the group; and occasionally, the group must stifle the individual. Those actions are the essence of governance. But they are signals that something is wrong and changes are needed. However, such disruptions and impositions cannot be the norm, or the group will eventually die.

Ideally, laws for personal behavior should be personally chosen, personally enforced, and private. Ideally, laws for group behavior should be group ratified, group enforced, and transparent. Personal laws for personal behavior should be complex and idiosyncratic to each individual. Personal laws for when the individual should disrupt the group should be simple and transparent.

Group laws for group behavior should be short and simple. Group laws limiting the group’s power over the individual should be broad and elaborate.

Guiding Principles

Individual Code of Conduct Guidelines

1. Non-pettiness
2. Integrity
3. Communal Effort
4. Civic Responsibility
5. Radical Self-Expression
6. Selfless Constructive Criticism of Group Decisions
7. Selfless Constructive Contrarianism to Group Behavior
8. First Principles Reasoning

These values are contrary to natural individual behavior. The primary motivation of individual behavior is to maximize the individual’s success and reap the maximal benefit they can extract from the group. That is the entire purpose behind joining a group.

However, the group cannot remain worthy of participation if all of its members do not contribute selflessly, at least to some degree. This list consists of values our members have identified as useful behaviors for fostering such selfless cooperation.

These principles should not be enforced by official group power, unless something goes seriously wrong. This list is here to help guide people’s interactions in the hope of encouraging cooperation between individuals through the soft power of group opinion. Official group power to stifle individuals should most often be passive, ignoring bad contributions through the basic programmed mechanism of filtering attention. When slashing reputation and banning members is necessary, it represents a serious failure of group operations that signals the need for rethinking the protocols.

Group Governance Code of Conduct

1. Non-pettiness
2. Integrity
3. Toleration for Divergent Opinions
4. Responsibility for Individual Welfare
5. Honor Individual Contributions
6. Toleration for Criticism; Acceptance of Constructive Criticism
7. Patience for Individual Weaknesses; Compassion for Individual Failures
8. Spirit of the Law over Letter of the Law

These values are contrary to natural group behavior. The primary purpose of group governance is to cut toxic members from the group, and defend the group from outside attacks. Such functions must be vigilantly exercised for the group to survive. That is the entire point of making and enforcing laws.

However, those natural functions need to be leavened by constant good will toward every individual they police. The list mirrors the Individual Code of Conduct as the proper response to each behavior.

See Also

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