Ducks in a Row: Respect Does Not Mean Agreement
by Miki Saxon
Last week I cited research the showed a culture of respect was far more productive than a nice one and the next day went on to say that ‘respect’ and ‘like’ aren’t inseparable.
Now I have to add that being respectful doesn’t indicate any form of agreement.
This may be especially shocking to the tech world where a war is raging in the open source world.
They are arguing about whether they should have to agree to a community code of conduct (CCoC) that requires them to behave respectfully. (…) That code of conduct basically says that the group is open to people of all walks of life and expects its members to be courteous.
In this context courteous probably means you don’t act like a troll — screaming, cursing, intimidating, harassing, etc — online or real world.
There is nothing that says you have to agree.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to disagree without being a troll.
It’s also possible to have passionate arguments over a subject that include yelling and profanity directed at the subject/opinion, as opposed to the person.
It’s the difference between
- That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard
and
- You are really stupid to say that.
Further, online trolls don’t necessarily act the same in the real world — it’s easier to be a bully on a keyboard than face-to-face — although more and more do.
It’s actually amusing in a way, since every community of which one is a member has its own CCoC, whether written or inherent.
People abide by them, because, by and large, they agree with them.
And vice versa.
Image credit: InterfaceLeader
