Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful youāll near-instantly regret.
Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cutānāpaste it into its own post ā thereās no quota for posting and the bar really isnāt that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned soo many āesotericā right wing freaks, but thereās no appropriate sneer-space for them. Iām talking redscare-ish, reality challenged āculture criticsā who write about everything but understand nothing. Iām talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. Theyāre inescapable at this point, yet I donāt see them mocked (as much as they should be)
Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldnāt be surgeons because they didnāt believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I canāt escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)
Grumble grumble. I donāt think that āoptimizingā is really a factor here, since a lot of times the preferred construct is either equivalent (such that) or more verbose (a nonzero chance that). Instead itās more likely a combination of simple repetition (like how Iāve been calling everyone āmateā since getting stuck into Taskmaster NZ) and identity performance (look how smart I am with my smart people words).
When optimization does factor in its less tied to the specific culture of tech/finance bros than it is a simple response to the environment and technology theyāre using. Like, Iāve seen the same āACKā used in networking and in older radio nerds because it fills an important role.
And much of it is very likely born out of humorous usage. Like āpingingā a colleague with a direct message to see if theyāre online. I might even greet my nerdier IT friends with āSYNā or āEHLOā, or a ham with āQSOā in a non-radio context.
A lot of it is, but letās agree that using āpriorā is just fucking pretentious
The way rationalists use āpriorsā and other bayesian language is closer to how cults use jargon and special meanings to isolate members and tie them more closely to the primary information source (the cult leader). It also serves as a way to perform allegiance to the cultās ideology, which is I think whatās happening here