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Does anyone really believe that names are unique? I have a fairly unique name, but I've seen at least 10 people with the exact same first and last name as me on

Does anyone really believe that names are unique? I have a fairly unique name, but I've seen at least 10 people with the exact same first and last name as me on LinkedIn.

PeterisP 6y ago
Some people have designed some systems that include that assumption in some places - they almost certainly don't believe that names are unique, but still act like they do. For example, I have seen a (non-online) process designed in a manner that allow anyone with a matching name to easily and even accidentally gain access to the other persons' goods - e.g. you come to fetch your order, show ID that you're "John Smith", and get given all the currently outstanding stuff that's ordered by a John Smith, because the system is designed so that the employee searches by name, and the system provides a list of all the items that should be handed out without sufficient information to verify anything else.
- mjevans 6y ago
  That system more strongly depends on the (3 + 0.5) 4th dimensional interaction and people generally being honest enough; as well as the hopefully implicit secret of who's orders are in the system. Though with all the food delivery stuff these days, it wouldn't surprise me for some rando to walk in, grab a reasonable looking number of bags from the output rack, and just walk right out the door. Particularly if they've got the confidence to not look guilty while doing it.
  - PeterisP 6y ago
    The impact scenario was that a person with a common name comes for their order, gets given a bag/box with stuff, and that box contains both their items and the items from someone else with the same name - i.e. the process (and the supporting IT system) simply couldn't organize separate pickups for two different John Smiths on the same day.
    - mjevans 6y ago
      That's just a poorly designed system. The proper natural key is an order number (possibly an alias to an internal ID that isn't shared, like a GUID). The failure mode without blame might be a pickup which contains both orders, in distinct bags. I think most places staple a receipt to the outside of the bag, so that should make this even less likely.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
robin_reala 6y ago
I believe my name is a GUID; at least, I’ve never found reference to someone else with it. My partner’s name is certainly unique.
- jon-wood 6y ago
  And I had a teacher in college who had a standing bet that he would pay out to anyone who was able to find someone else with his name, anywhere in the world, however I remember that because it’s highly unusual. Most people are going to have at least one doppelgänger somewhere.
  - berkes 6y ago
    I'm sure that somewhere in the world, the value in that bet is enough for a person to decide to change their name and then collect it. Or for an official to slip in a birth record with that name and collect it. The point: names are not unique, because there is a) no statistic guarantee (like UUIDv4s) and b) no uniqueness validation. So even if by chance you fall in an exceptional outlier of a), you cannot be sure of b)

Does anyone really believe that names are unique? I have a fairly unique name, but I've seen at least 10 people with the exact same first and last name as me on LinkedIn.

PeterisP 6y ago

Some people have designed some systems that include that assumption in some places - they almost certainly don't believe that names are unique, but still act like they do. For example, I have seen a (non-online) process designed in a manner that allow anyone with a matching name to easily and even accidentally gain access to the other persons' goods - e.g. you come to fetch your order, show ID that you're "John Smith", and get given all the currently outstanding stuff that's ordered by a John Smith, because the system is designed so that the employee searches by name, and the system provides a list of all the items that should be handed out without sufficient information to verify anything else.

mjevans 6y ago
That system more strongly depends on the (3 + 0.5) 4th dimensional interaction and people generally being honest enough; as well as the hopefully implicit secret of who's orders are in the system. Though with all the food delivery stuff these days, it wouldn't surprise me for some rando to walk in, grab a reasonable looking number of bags from the output rack, and just walk right out the door. Particularly if they've got the confidence to not look guilty while doing it.
- PeterisP 6y ago
  The impact scenario was that a person with a common name comes for their order, gets given a bag/box with stuff, and that box contains both their items and the items from someone else with the same name - i.e. the process (and the supporting IT system) simply couldn't organize separate pickups for two different John Smiths on the same day.
  - mjevans 6y ago
    That's just a poorly designed system. The proper natural key is an order number (possibly an alias to an internal ID that isn't shared, like a GUID). The failure mode without blame might be a pickup which contains both orders, in distinct bags. I think most places staple a receipt to the outside of the bag, so that should make this even less likely.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

robin_reala 6y ago

I believe my name is a GUID; at least, I’ve never found reference to someone else with it. My partner’s name is certainly unique.

jon-wood 6y ago
And I had a teacher in college who had a standing bet that he would pay out to anyone who was able to find someone else with his name, anywhere in the world, however I remember that because it’s highly unusual. Most people are going to have at least one doppelgänger somewhere.
- berkes 6y ago
  I'm sure that somewhere in the world, the value in that bet is enough for a person to decide to change their name and then collect it. Or for an official to slip in a birth record with that name and collect it. The point: names are not unique, because there is a) no statistic guarantee (like UUIDv4s) and b) no uniqueness validation. So even if by chance you fall in an exceptional outlier of a), you cannot be sure of b)