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It's worth noting that "fair fight" spaces have their own failure modes, notably that people interpret their opponents uncharitably and take opportunistic potshots. One of my favorite things about quokka spaces is that they avoid those failure modes.
Also "status" is absolutely a thing in masculine spaces, which is one reason why "I'm sorry, I was wrong" is never seen here.
"Never" certainly isn't true. Example 1 and 2 from me.
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How many examples do I need to find before I hear this from you? I want a number. I recall seeing this dozens of times in my time here. Status is a thing everywhere, and in healthy cultures apologizing can earn you status.
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I did get something quite close! It does happen!
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Status is a thing, but once a challenge has been accepted the rules are fair. You're equals at least temporarily. The idea is to suppress the role of status in the conflict.
The rules are 'fair' in the sense of 'it is illegal for rich men and the homeless alike to sleep under an overpass.'
Sure, it's not fair in the cosmic sense of all that might have been but for the random vicissitudes of life. A "fair fight" does not need to satisfy that standard to achieve its intended purpose.
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I'm not saying the rules aren't fair. I'm saying the failure modes of the "fair fight" philosophy also hinder productive discussion.
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