Blog/2024-10-16/Watch Out For Purists

Once again, someone has found out that high-purity communities are their closest allies' enemies. Winamp tried to open-source their code only to be met with a frenzy of vitriol from lunatics who barely write any code. In general, it's a pretty good idea to not try to serve those who require purity since their prime purpose is often the purity itself and not utility.

If they just had a "this section sponsored by Ulta Beauty" then no donation would have occurred and everyone would be happy

None of the orgs that did not offer to pay are in the top 100 worst orgs ever, though

Attempting to work with them is suicide, and will often backfire, leading to a worse outcome than if one were to ignore their causes altogether. Here are a few examples:

• The Winamp Fiasco mentioned above
• Breast Cancer Research funding from Ulta Beauty on Ellen Degeneres's Show
• Jordan Henderson playing in Saudi Arabia after supporting LGBT causes
• PETA offering to pay water bills for vegans

This is, of course, what happens when people believe in The Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics and adhere to it strictly. But some communities are more adherent than others and treat the position as a religious precept. It's best to avoid those guys entirely since the fact that you have a purportedly shared interest is overshadowed by the fact that, though they hold this viewpoint perhaps stronger than you, they have done nothing to advance it. In a sense, this is the narcissism of small differences except to separate the agentic from the non-agentic.

In the absence of actual advancement of the cause, some people demonstrate adherence by representing themselves as the purest supporters of the cause. The further they are from advancing the cause, the more they must assert their piety. At the limit, the cause is entirely subsumed by representing oneself as pious.