digitalsigil

I see what you're saying. And to be fair, I disagree that you're being casually racist. What you're doing is casually accusing someone else of being racist.

That being said, I think it's a little hypocritical to insult someone for dropping casually racist contents into their technical work when you're doing something very similar.

> It isn't really rejecting tribalism, it's something more akin to the 'FairBot' tribe from the article.

I was going to say this exact same thing --- that, as far as the simulation understands, FairBot is just a more complicated Shibboleth.

To properly perform our Shibboleth is to have loved other people, then develop and understanding of murder/genocide and be given an opportunity to express your feeling about it. If these things don't bother you, then you've failed the Shibboleth and need to be killed (or imprisoned) so that you don't damage our society.

And, while our society certainly doesn't implement this perfectly, this is the best you can do. The shibboleth has worked so well because, unless you're a sociopath, it comes out of the root of your being. In my mind, the experience of transcendent love is so powerful that we are willing to reject ANY destruction of it, even if it doesn't directly affect us (i.e. I wouldn't kill a mother because, having a mother myself, I know it would destroy a very power human bond).

> It's not wrong, nor necessarily economically irresponsible, for "poor" people to have a few nice things.

I strongly agree with this, but if someone does choose to buy an iPhone they should know it's a luxury. It bothers me that Apple doesn't acknowledge this.

> An inspiration for amateurs everywhere. It is a useful idea at the start. But at some point, you will acquire an itch to to hone your skills. By then, you probably don't need to worry about doing badly.

Actually, I think it's even better advice someone who is already skilled at something. It's easy to forget that being able to do something well doesn't make that thing worthwhile. Right now I feel this way about my profession -- I need to choose between doing something I think makes the world a worse place "well" to pay the bills versus trying to redirect my skill-set towards something more "worthwhile", but potentially failing.

Obviously there are many factors to consider but I think the main point of the quote is to emphasize the nature of "worth" transcends ability, not just "don't be afraid to try new things!"

re: P.S. And yes, "Good Omens" is an awesome book.

I also have some qualms with how you decide what is a "stroke", but this is an interesting line of analysis.

However, I would argue it is more important for an alphabet to optimized for readability rather than writability. If you want to write fast, learn shorthand or the stenotype!