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He's also idiosyncratic in the approach to the rest of his life. When he practiced ‘simple living,’ in his front yard he had (or still has?) a small wild garden
by aasasd 7y ago
He's also idiosyncratic in the approach to the rest of his life. When he practiced ‘simple living,’ in his front yard he had (or still has?) a small wild garden with uncut grass, where he of course walked barefoot and his children played naked (iirc). He was taken to the court by neighbors on the issue of grass, and appeared there with a tome of paper citing local laws and research that says cut grass exudes harmful substances. Whereupon he was left to do as he pleases.
The article on Rohrer, which included this anecdote, theorized that his court appearance proved his gardening choices to be a matter of principle and not just negligence, thus changing the perception of him by the neighbors.
Meanwhile, his ‘Passage’ is in MOMA's initial videogame collection, and he's had a solo exhibition at The Davis Museum.
- enriquto 7y agoIt would seem that he has some idiosyncratic neighbors, then. But they are not alone, a certain amount of people are strangely obsessed by the grass of their neighbors. My kids loved the dandelions of my grass and I let them grow, but then I received regular bullying by the old lady next to our place, who had a "perfect" french style garden, and looked at us as if we were some kind of savages. I actually found this bevavior rather funny.
- atoav 7y agoIn such situations I tend to go onto the meta level and ask them that they realize what they are doing at that moment: looking perfect is more important to them than acting like a perfect neighbour. So something like: “I always thought of you as a good neighbour, because of your beautiful garden, but is complaining about your neighbours garden something a good neighbour would do?” Usually they never bother you again then.
- dTal 7y agoThat particular phrasing comes across a mite hypocritical - if you admit that having a well-kept garden makes one a good neighbor, then you are admitting that your unkempt garden makes you a bad neighbor.
- enriquto 7y ago> if you admit that having a well-kept garden makes one a good neighbor, then you are admitting that your unkempt garden makes you a bad neighbor. No, you aren't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent
- dTal 7y agoThis isn't formal logic - it's basic reciprocal socialization. Humans believe in holding everyone to similar standards as a basic principle ("fairness"). You are simultaneously reaffirming your neighbor's standards for themselves, and rejecting them for yourself. This will be seen as hypocritical, and in the real world, if you try to defend this behavior by citing the Wikipedia article on "Affirming the consequent", you will rapidly find yourself on your neighbor's mental "pedantic asshole" list.
- rootlocus 7y agoTL;DR Yeah, but I don't care. > You are simultaneously reaffirming your neighbor's standards for themselves, and rejecting them for yourself. Yes, because we are complex, subjective, multidimensional humans, and we can judge each other based on different referential systems. If I don't care about your subjective perspective, I don't have to prove myself in your eyes. And if I don't care what your referential system is then I'm only a hypocrite in your eyes. - You have a clean yard, you must be a good person. I have a messy yard, but I like it / I don't care. I can still be a good person for other reasons, but I don't care to be that person in your eyes. I do care that you're pestering me with comments, so please stop.
- rootlocus 7y ago1. That's not how the implication operator works 2. You don't necessary have to agree with the premise, but you're proposing it because you think the other person agrees with it.
- Retra 7y ago
- Angostura 7y agoDandelions are fine, but for the sake of your neighbours it is kind to remove the heads before they seed. Having to continuously hand weed myriad young dandelion plants can be a pain, especially, I imagine if you are elderly. I have an allotment, and you'll certainly get frowned at if you let your dandelions seed all over a neighbouring plot.
- bingerman 7y agoWell, those are things to consider, but the details depend on the country and the particular neighbourhood. Fortunately there are also people who prefer meadows to "perfect" green deserts. I kinda enjoy both and I've found the hybrid model works best for me and my family (no complains from the neighbours, yet;).
- stinos 7y agoFortunately there are also people who prefer meadows to "perfect" green deserts. And fortunately it's even possible (though pretty hard) to 'turn' people. Couple of years ago I slowly started explaining in detail why pretty much anything is better as far as nature goes than a short lawn consisting of only grass, and also explaining that the idea that such lawn is the summum of gardening is purely a cultural and economical thing without much real benefits but just costing money for the owners of the lawn. This year my neighbour proudly said he would not be mowing a small piece of his fairly huge lawn because he wanted to see more bees and butterflies (which are abdundant in my own meadows) and he might not try to remove the moss this year. So now we're both happier than before. And my neighbour will spend less time and money. Sometimes life is simple yet good.
- Angostura 7y agoI quite happily have a meadow lawn. I do, however avoid cranesbill and dandelion in it because the seeds scatter so widely and are an annoyance to neighbours. I also have lots of rotting logs and a wildlife pond with native wetland plants. These don't annoy anyone.
- oftenwrong 7y agoHN on lawns and neighbours: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13907696 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13907696 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12257883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12257883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19667046 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19667046 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10453383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10453383
- Paradigma11 7y agoI would guess that the neighbours mostly want to avoid the appearance of negligence in their neighbourhood which might impact house prices.
- enriquto 7y agoWhat a shitty neighborhood, when the main concern in the lives of your neighbors is the price of the houses they already own!
- animal531 7y agoDandelions used to be both cultivated and consumed, it is only in modern times that we've decided it's a weed.
- wyldfire 7y agoYet, the appropriate context to judge the contemporary dandelions is "modern times."
- JacobDotVI 7y agoI have often purchased dandelion greens at my local farmer’s market - they are great sautéed!
- cannonedhamster 7y agoI don't care what my neighbors do, however cutting long grass helps prevent tick and flea infestations in my area so it does have a purpose. The ticks especially enjoy the long grass. I do however work towards planting more permaculture in my yard so that there's less grass to cut. The grass provides an excellent ground cover and builds up the soil in the meantime.
- JohnFen 7y ago> cutting long grass helps prevent tick and flea infestations in my area so it does have a purpose Not to mention helping to reduce the risk of rodent problems. Pest control and fire risk are the reasons why, in my city, your are legally required to keep your jungle down to a certain level.
- jimkri 7y agoMichael Pollan actually talks about this in his book Second Nature. His father never cut his lawn and the neighbors had the same reaction, but his dad fought back as well. Really cool book if you want to read about gardening and how society looks at nature especially the lawn and garden. [1]https://www.amazon.com/Second-Nature-Gardeners-Michael-Pollan/dp/0802140114 https://www.amazon.com/Second-Nature-Gardeners-Michael-Polla...
- derefr 7y ago> cut grass exudes harmful substances Intriguing “fact” if true; I can’t reconcile this with so many animals eating grass. They’re both directly cutting it in their mouths, and also inhaling the volatiles from the part they leave connected to the plant. Is there some problem common to all grazers? Something like the way koalas are proposed to be as languorous as they are because the eucalyptus leaves they eat are acting in a drug-like manner on them? Or, alternately, is there some adaptation all grazers have in their bodily response to chemical volatiles released by the cutting of grasses, that other animals species don’t have?
- ultimape 7y agoIt's actually an outstanding problem with feeding ruminants. In pasture raised animals, they tend to forage on things that avoid giving them problems by avoiding over-grazing thru taste and foraging patterns, but in a small contained yard of constantly cut grass the toxins will build up because the plant responds as if it is over-grazing. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-7799(00)88995-7 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-7799(00)88995-7