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Being at Congress is like living on a multi-generational spaceship. It is large, the scale initially boggling the mind, full of pretty blinky lights, random gases, sculptures, and lasers. With more computer power than I can concretely conceive of. It also contains thousands upon thousands of souls. Of every age, including children, some born into this life, others having found their own way aboard. All squeezed into a confined space. You get used to the grandeur, you get accustomed to the crowds, and how to time your visits to talks, food stalls, toilets. When another group puts on an event, throws up some lights, makes some music, puts up posters, you adapt, you absorb. You fall into the rhythm, you become part of the whole. There forms an expected pattern of thinking, an expected behaviour, even a lingo, in-jokes. Even beyond the usual uniform of tshirts and hoodies, there are the official tshirts and official hoodies. For all the talk of difference and individuality, of doing things your own way, you become just one more member of the hive.
Despite the affectation of being outsiders, aliens stranded, everyone involved are just people. Regular issue humans. Which means they are flawed, they make mistakes, are capable of horrible things, and sometimes outright fuck up. They have the capacity to learn. They are also discrete, there is no homogeneity, there isn't even an united front. It's children, grownups, playing make believe. Because if there is one thing they all might have in common, it is the belief that we can and should be doing more, that there is a better way forward.
So it strikes me as hypocritical that some people become so hostile, like misfiring anti-bodies responding to threats to the system, when fellow members are justifiably criticising (in)actions, challenging status quo, and demanding better from their own community. Something goes wrong, the bug report gets filed. But no adequate fix results. This upsets, causing ever increasing ripples of disharmony. The damage will only grow and spread if nothing is done to fix it.
If the spaceship does continues to atrophy without remedy, if there is nothing left for us to salvage, it is worth reminding ourselves, it's not a multi-generational spaceship. As painful as it might be, we can leave. There is life outside.
Maybe we can even add more ships to the fleet.
Reading;
@NGC_3572 twitter thread
The CCC: Men Who Hate Women
After a Year of #MeToo Impacting the Hacker Community, We Still Have Far to Go
Code of Conduct Enforcement Warning Signs
*edit*
@NGC_3572 twitter thread on how the community stepped up
Despite the affectation of being outsiders, aliens stranded, everyone involved are just people. Regular issue humans. Which means they are flawed, they make mistakes, are capable of horrible things, and sometimes outright fuck up. They have the capacity to learn. They are also discrete, there is no homogeneity, there isn't even an united front. It's children, grownups, playing make believe. Because if there is one thing they all might have in common, it is the belief that we can and should be doing more, that there is a better way forward.
So it strikes me as hypocritical that some people become so hostile, like misfiring anti-bodies responding to threats to the system, when fellow members are justifiably criticising (in)actions, challenging status quo, and demanding better from their own community. Something goes wrong, the bug report gets filed. But no adequate fix results. This upsets, causing ever increasing ripples of disharmony. The damage will only grow and spread if nothing is done to fix it.
If the spaceship does continues to atrophy without remedy, if there is nothing left for us to salvage, it is worth reminding ourselves, it's not a multi-generational spaceship. As painful as it might be, we can leave. There is life outside.
Maybe we can even add more ships to the fleet.
Reading;
@NGC_3572 twitter thread
The CCC: Men Who Hate Women
After a Year of #MeToo Impacting the Hacker Community, We Still Have Far to Go
Code of Conduct Enforcement Warning Signs
*edit*
@NGC_3572 twitter thread on how the community stepped up
Rocket ship at 34C3, Day Zero
Photo by chebegeek
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