4 ms·

I like that million ways to do it wrong line. Never thought of it like that.

• oblio 5y ago
  It's a sort of general principle and the first time I encountered it was in Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. It's the first paragraph: > Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
  • chriswarbo 5y ago
    Indeed, it's why an exit code of 0 indicates a successful program execution, whilst anything else is an error code (which other programs can compared against known values, if appropriate).
    • gmfawcett 5y ago
      You've given me hope that, one day, all the great Russian novelists will be translated into POSIX. :)
  • jodrellblank 5y ago
    I think it applies personally as well as to families; you can be excited for an event, but you can worry about your clothes, your hair, your shoes, your smell, your smile, your voice, your style, etc. etc. It's very unlikely that you will be excited for your clothes or your shoes or your hair. So there's one kind of happiness but many kinds of anxiety. Similarly you can be content with your life, or discontent with your finances, home, relationships, etc. etc. Same as a computer system has one way that works, but many things which can go wrong. It's why entropy is a thing; there's only a few ways to build a stable structure, but zillions upon zillions of ways to build a crumbling pile of dust. Almost any change from wind/pressure/radiation will move it towards a less structured state. It's related to why the Pyramids are so stable, they are shaped like the aftermath of a fallen building, a pile of stone can't easily collapse any further.
• burnished 5y ago
  I guess thats the same reason cords tend to tangle. There are many many ways for a cord to become disordered or form a knot. There are very few ways for them to be ordered. Hence untying corded earbuds everytime they come out of your pocket.