Comments | andrewducker: Interesting Links for 03-10-2016

andrewducker

Interesting Links for 03-10-2016

Oct 03, 2016 12:13

Driverless, Electric Shuttles Now Operating in Lyon, France (tags: automation france transport ) ‘If I Sleep for an Hour, 30 People Will Die’ - the story of a Jewish forger (tags: forgery wwii Holocaust history ) Whales are fish. And so are you. (tags: evolution names ontology ) London hasn't been kind to the man behind the Tube Chat badge ( ( Read more... )

history, introversion, men, astronomy, uk, ontology, language, automation, europe, funny, society, women, conversation, dogs, mri, london, knitting, craftwork, relationships, france, space, transport, reddit, wwii, holocaust, names, evolution, viaswampers, forgery, mathematics, links

Comments 24

naath October 3 2016, 11:25:41 UTC

Tube Chat guy> ummm, well, we are all too busy pretending that a tiny slice of privacy is possible in the overcrowded city...

andrewducker October 3 2016, 11:59:22 UTC

Yes. But it's not going to force you to chat to anyone, because you aren't going to wear a badge...

gonzo21 October 3 2016, 11:38:38 UTC

I think it's May's ploy for Fascist England, crash the economy hard, blame the foreigners (because it certainly won't be our fault for voting for it), and institute hard police state measures to crack down on all of the inevitable unrest that will occur when people start rioting because the economy is fucked.

cartesiandaemon October 3 2016, 11:49:48 UTC

I'm proud of tube chat guy for having an idea and giving it a go, but really exasperated that he can't seem to see that if people are massively against something he's trying to get them to do, maybe there's a reason beyond "they'd be happier if they were just like him but they're too stupid to see it".

Like, it *would* be nice if you could chat on public transport *occasionally*. But I don't think it's just arbitrary, I think *most* large metro areas people are much more reserved than other places. I think indiscriminately talking to people actually causes problems. And any solution has to work around those problems not ignore them.

andrewducker October 3 2016, 11:58:59 UTC

I have zero problem with people who _do_ want to chat wearing a badge saying so. And then others who are likeminded can meet them.

Others who don't want to can just not wear the badge, and it's all fine.

cartesiandaemon October 3 2016, 12:27:32 UTC

I... guess ( ... )

andrewducker October 3 2016, 12:56:28 UTC

I don't think "I want to chat" automatically opens you up to "I want to chat about everything, with everyone." - it feels more like an invitation to start a conversation, and anyone can always end a conversation.

I don't see anything as providing a complete solution. But I certainly don't see how other people wearing the badge would impact on the people around them particularly, and they would always be able to remove the badge if everyone else wearing one turned out to be a terrible specimen of humanity.

Wearing one with a topic of interest would be fun actually. I might try that for a party some time. "My name is XXXXX, talk to me about YYYYY!"

Thread 12

21 Clueless Men Reveal The Most Obvious 'Hint' From A G cartesiandaemon October 3 2016, 11:53:44 UTC

I'm mostly just depressed that society decided that "hint and hope" was the most approved method :(

RE: 21 Clueless Men Reveal The Most Obvious 'Hint' From A G andrewducker October 3 2016, 11:57:00 UTC

To be fair, as many people do feel threatened by direct approaches, dropping really obvious hints is a better way of giving them a way of saying no without either of you feeling that now you have to deal with A Thing.

RE: 21 Clueless Men Reveal The Most Obvious 'Hint' From A G cartesiandaemon October 3 2016, 12:08:39 UTC

Yeah, I think there are good reasons flirting involves dropping hints, I think it inevitably involved, "I'm *maybe* interested in you, can we get to know a bit more". Partly because it's fun, partly because it lets both people evaluate the possibility a little before going further, partly to avoid being too pushy.

But that's equally true if it's symmetrical, whereas in fact society pushes women much much much harder to always always be deniable, and I think training people to have the attitude "oh, but she was OBVIOUSLY flirting with you" when it's something you wouldn't USUALLY do with a platonic friend, has lots of downsides :(

threegoldfish October 3 2016, 15:26:07 UTC

I was really not surprised to see the guy behind this was a white American guy from a part of the country with no real history of public transit (small town Colorado). Although given one article I read clocked him as having living in London for 20 years, you'd think he'd have figured it out by this point. I'm from small town Michigan, but I've lived and transited in DC for a decade now and the last thing I want is anyone talking to me on the train. It's bad enough I've got to worry if the damn thing's going to catch on fire. Only tourists chat on the trains during rush.