How Breaking Etiquette Can Make Communication More Effective: Crocker’s Rules
Crocker’s Rules are a communication protocol or etiquette designed to reduce the emotional impact in various types of discussions.
(Lee Daniel Crocker is an American programmer, poker player, and philosopher. He is one of the leading programmers of Wikipedia and the author of MediaWiki.)
Sincerity and Honesty in Communication
Sincerity is an aspect of honesty and truthfulness, meaning there is no contradiction between your real feelings and intentions toward another person (or group) and how you express those feelings and intentions in words. The most important sign of insincerity is inconsistency between verbal statements and nonverbal cues (gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice), which the speaker may not always be able to control.
What It Means to Follow Crocker’s Rules
By declaring your ability to follow Crocker’s Rules, you allow other participants in a discussion to optimize their informational messages, even if those messages are emotionally charged—because you will ignore the emotional content. This means you take full responsibility for your own perceptions and thoughts. If you feel offended, hurt, or distracted from the main topic, that is entirely your own responsibility.
The fundamental assumption is that sometimes rudeness, or another form of natural behavior, is necessary for effective information exchange. For example, it can be useful to openly signal a lack of patience or tolerance. Additionally, knowing the speaker’s emotional state—whether they are angry or sad—can be valuable rational information.
Efficient Information Exchange
It is assumed that two people following Crocker’s Rules can exchange all relevant information in the shortest possible time, without rephrasing or social formatting.
By committing to these rules, you largely give up the right to complain about emotional provocation, “flaming,” “trolling” (hopelessly subjective terms), or other supposed breaches of etiquette. In other words, you give up this right in favor of more effective communication.
Important Note!
Crocker’s Rules do not mean that it is acceptable to insult others; they mean that others do not need to worry about whether they might insult you. Crocker’s Rules are a discipline, not a privilege. Also, using Crocker’s Rules does not require reciprocity.
Crocker’s Rules are something you do for yourself to maximize the information you receive. It does not mean gritting your teeth to do someone else a favor.