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I posted the article because I find it an interesting take on technology, restrictions on technology usage, and working around (hacking) the limitations of thos

I posted the article because I find it an interesting take on technology, restrictions on technology usage, and working around (hacking) the limitations of those restrictions. I think that's a perfect combination for a Hacker News submission, and it perfectly fits the scope of the article. If the article would have gone into detail about how not all Amish are likeable (I wouldn't know, I've never met one) and whether or not they screwed people over in business deals, it would have made the article less suitable for an HN post, I think. TL/DR: there's a time and place for anything.

moron4hire 5y ago
That's fair, and I didn't want to come off as complaining that it had been shared at all. It's just that these sort of articles frequently come up and I've never seen any that show any other side of them than "pious, salt-of-the-earth people". Then the comments roll of the form "the Amish seem to have life figured out". There's definitely something to be said about being more intentional in technology adoption. I don't think that's the same thing as being slower about adoption. But I also don't think being more intentional is really what's going on with the Amish. Like all religions, it's a system of control. You'll see people (rightly) criticize the homophobia, misogyny, and anti-intellectualism of Evangelical Christianity and Wahhabism in Islam. And then an article about the Amish shows up--who largely share a lot of those sorts of beliefs--and they're depicted as a quaint, harmless people. Maybe it's because they live in enclaves and don't proselytize, so they aren't harmful to us, but they still inflict those abusive beliefs within their congregation. IDK, maybe it's no different than articles about how the Taliban weld scrap and guns to Toyota Hyraxes to make technicals. It does feel different, though.

moron4hire 5y ago

That's fair, and I didn't want to come off as complaining that it had been shared at all. It's just that these sort of articles frequently come up and I've never seen any that show any other side of them than "pious, salt-of-the-earth people". Then the comments roll of the form "the Amish seem to have life figured out". There's definitely something to be said about being more intentional in technology adoption. I don't think that's the same thing as being slower about adoption. But I also don't think being more intentional is really what's going on with the Amish. Like all religions, it's a system of control. You'll see people (rightly) criticize the homophobia, misogyny, and anti-intellectualism of Evangelical Christianity and Wahhabism in Islam. And then an article about the Amish shows up--who largely share a lot of those sorts of beliefs--and they're depicted as a quaint, harmless people. Maybe it's because they live in enclaves and don't proselytize, so they aren't harmful to us, but they still inflict those abusive beliefs within their congregation. IDK, maybe it's no different than articles about how the Taliban weld scrap and guns to Toyota Hyraxes to make technicals. It does feel different, though.