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Jul 7, 2023 at 22:10 comment added Karl Knechtel "'Politics' in the scope of Shog's post refers to governmental politics." Even taking that for granted, other forms of political discussion are also harmful, in the same ways, for the same reasons. When programmers feel empowered to debate about their preferred editor, line indentation conventions etc. ad nauseam, they will end up doing so to the exclusion of providing useful technical insight, even if they have a lot of such insight to share. Required reading: web.archive.org/web/20191122012101/http://www.shirky.com/…
Dec 5, 2018 at 20:53 history edited badp CC BY-SA 4.0
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Dec 4, 2018 at 21:16 comment added TylerH @badp Neither of my comments suggested political learning is immutable or in any way similar (or different) to things like sexual orientation. My comments suggest that it's clear what Shog meant by "politics", that your argument that "everything is politics at some level" doesn't advance the discussion in a meaningful way (nor is it even correct). The "you" in my previous comment was a 'royal' you, e.g. "one", not "you, badp".
Jan 7, 2017 at 18:28 comment added Shog9 StaffMod To use your dumpster fire analogy: a dumpster fire in an alley is a problem; a dumpster fire in a living room is a much bigger problem. Best course of action is to avoid the fire in the first place, but if you're gonna dispose of a bunch of oily rags, the dumpster is preferable to your living room carpet. Dropping the analogy: if we have to shut down a chat room because folks couldn't be civil, I'd much prefer to minimize the collateral damage.
Jan 7, 2017 at 12:02 history edited badp CC BY-SA 3.0
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Jan 7, 2017 at 11:49 history edited badp CC BY-SA 3.0
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Jan 6, 2017 at 19:59 comment added badp @TylerH No, what you are doing now is disrepecting me for disagreeing with you. Things are very much not as black and white as you depict them, and treating political learning as though they were as immutable as sexual orientation is deeply troubling and probably untrue. "I was born left-wing, you were born right-wing, and it can't be helped" only drives a wedge between people and increases the polarization that is at the root of Shog's post.
Jan 6, 2017 at 19:31 comment added TylerH @badp Once the discussion turns to government involvement, it's politics as Shog's post describes it. If you talk about office politics, coding politics (vim or emacs, tabs or spaces), or whatever, that's not the same, and isn't actually a part of how you identify as a human. There's no need to take the analysis that deep, just don't talk about politics. If you need clarification on what that entails, you're just being pedantic, or likely you aren't capable of holding a mature discussion with someone without it devolving into political "i'm right and you're a pile of human sludge" territory.
Jan 6, 2017 at 19:03 comment added badp @TylerH it isn't that simple: the way you react to Deus Ex preorder schemes probably reflects the way you think about politics: do you side with enterprises innovating in the way they generate value and create jobs for the industry, or with the customers and their right to a complete product that is fit for purpose and actually adheres to what is advertised? Should customers just not buy those games? Should this be regulated? If so, who should regulate this? Is this something the FCC should get involved with? Is this politics yet?
Jan 6, 2017 at 14:27 comment added TylerH 'Politics' in the scope of Shog's post refers to governmental politics.
Jan 6, 2017 at 8:17 comment added JdeBP There are lessons to be learned from what resulted when the comp.os.*.advocacy newsgroups were created.
Jan 6, 2017 at 7:56 history answered badp CC BY-SA 3.0