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The Amish are far from arbitrary with what technology they allow. When new tech arrives they experiment with it, and then see what affects it causes on the comm

The Amish are far from arbitrary with what technology they allow. When new tech arrives they experiment with it, and then see what affects it causes on the community based on a few metrics they value highly. When the car came, they saw that cars made families and communities live further apart. They didn’t like that, so they went back to horses. When the phone came they liked the ability to connect and the ability to call for emergency services, but they didn’t like the gossip factor. So they installed their phones in separate booths outside their homes, so everyone can see who is using the phone too much.

Jedd 8y ago
Well this has gotten weird. The various Amish sects use differing oral guidelines based on myriad interpretations of a dubious collection of contradictory historical anecdotes in order to come up with the rules for their particular outpost at that particular time. This leads to situations where cars are used, but not owned, as distinct from your 'so they went back to horses' summary. (I'm sure the car thing varies between sects.) Similarly, some sects realise phones are important for business and ensuring a viable lifestyle for their offspring, so they may be installed in some business locations, but not in homes. Unless that home is where the dairy farmer lives, and it's deemed important they have quick access to call a veterinarian. (etc) Rules around button usage based on gender, day of week, visibility of the button itself, and village you're in at the time? There may be post hoc explanations and fascinating (mis)interpretations of some short stories published around and after the 2nd century, but I think it's safe to call it arbitrary.
- keiferski 8y ago
  The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by definition
  - Jedd 8y ago
    > The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by definition Well, perhaps. But two things: 1. rules with alleged reasons (for someone) doesn't mean they're reasonable rules for everyone else, and 2. I initially bemoaned arbitrary parallels with TFA -- not that Amish made arbitrary rulings -- so, as noted, I'm now in the weird position where I'm defending something I didn't claim. (Anyway, you may be assuming arbitrary has a single meaning, that of being a synonym for 'random', which isn't entirely accurate. No two words are 100% synonyms, after all.) EDIT: Actually, 3 things. Amish rules are not consistent amongst all amish, as I noted above -- there's a lot of disparity between different communities, which suggests that the reasons are not especially objective (otherwise they'd all reach the same conclusion), which in turn leads to a conclusion there's some arbitrary (in the personal whim sense) aspects to them.

Jedd 8y ago

Well this has gotten weird. The various Amish sects use differing oral guidelines based on myriad interpretations of a dubious collection of contradictory historical anecdotes in order to come up with the rules for their particular outpost at that particular time. This leads to situations where cars are used, but not owned, as distinct from your 'so they went back to horses' summary. (I'm sure the car thing varies between sects.) Similarly, some sects realise phones are important for business and ensuring a viable lifestyle for their offspring, so they may be installed in some business locations, but not in homes. Unless that home is where the dairy farmer lives, and it's deemed important they have quick access to call a veterinarian. (etc) Rules around button usage based on gender, day of week, visibility of the button itself, and village you're in at the time? There may be post hoc explanations and fascinating (mis)interpretations of some short stories published around and after the 2nd century, but I think it's safe to call it arbitrary.

keiferski 8y ago
The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by definition
- Jedd 8y ago
  > The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by definition Well, perhaps. But two things: 1. rules with alleged reasons (for someone) doesn't mean they're reasonable rules for everyone else, and 2. I initially bemoaned arbitrary parallels with TFA -- not that Amish made arbitrary rulings -- so, as noted, I'm now in the weird position where I'm defending something I didn't claim. (Anyway, you may be assuming arbitrary has a single meaning, that of being a synonym for 'random', which isn't entirely accurate. No two words are 100% synonyms, after all.) EDIT: Actually, 3 things. Amish rules are not consistent amongst all amish, as I noted above -- there's a lot of disparity between different communities, which suggests that the reasons are not especially objective (otherwise they'd all reach the same conclusion), which in turn leads to a conclusion there's some arbitrary (in the personal whim sense) aspects to them.