3 ms·

That’s not what a race to the bottom is. It’s just competition, which is usually good.

411111111111111 4y ago
It often feels like words are losing their meaning, with everyone misusing terms they don't fully understand. I don't want to be a doomer and have have surely unknowingly misused terms as well, but its definitely noticable how these originally clearly defined terms are getting used in entirely new ways. And it's not just with technical terms like this, it also applies to originally obvious terms such as racism, sexism etc which have lost their original meaning entirely
- rjtavares 4y ago
  I can understand the criticism about technical terms (they work better if stable and precise), but regarding the rest: that's just how language works. You can't (and shouldn't) expect words to keep their original meaning forever. For example, the word "term" comes from the original latin "terminus" that means "end" or "boundary". It only got the meaning you used it for centuries after it was first used in English. See: https://www.etymonline.com/word/term https://www.etymonline.com/word/term
  - 411111111111111 4y ago
    Oh, it wasn't my intention to criticize anything or anyone in particular with that comment. I was just pondering that our originally clearly defined terms are rapidly getting used in very confusing manner, which increases the difficulty of a discussion, as participants interpret words very differently. I dont think that people look up the actual definition of terms in a thesaurus anymore. They hear it in some context and create their own personal definition. It wasn't as obvious before the internet i think, but nowadays everyone is bombarded with technical terms all the time, which likely contributes massively to this increasingly fluid terminology
- standardly 4y ago
  Also, the use of "unironically". What is going on there.
jibe 4y ago
There is generally a negative connotation to race to the bottom. The Investopedia definition captures this: The race to the bottom refers to a competitive situation where a company, state, or nation attempts to undercut the competition's prices by sacrificing quality standards or worker safety (often defying regulation), or reducing labor costs.
- jonplackett 4y ago
  Thanks. Yes this is what I'm trying to say - a race to the bottom is about companies seeing how crap of a service they can give you that you're still willing (or have little choice) to pay for. This appears to the the exact opposite, a race to provide more services and more features for a lower price, based on optimising and/or lower profit margins. AKA Capitalism actually working for a change.

It often feels like words are losing their meaning, with everyone misusing terms they don't fully understand. I don't want to be a doomer and have have surely unknowingly misused terms as well, but its definitely noticable how these originally clearly defined terms are getting used in entirely new ways. And it's not just with technical terms like this, it also applies to originally obvious terms such as racism, sexism etc which have lost their original meaning entirely

rjtavares 4y ago
I can understand the criticism about technical terms (they work better if stable and precise), but regarding the rest: that's just how language works. You can't (and shouldn't) expect words to keep their original meaning forever. For example, the word "term" comes from the original latin "terminus" that means "end" or "boundary". It only got the meaning you used it for centuries after it was first used in English. See: https://www.etymonline.com/word/term https://www.etymonline.com/word/term
- 411111111111111 4y ago
  Oh, it wasn't my intention to criticize anything or anyone in particular with that comment. I was just pondering that our originally clearly defined terms are rapidly getting used in very confusing manner, which increases the difficulty of a discussion, as participants interpret words very differently. I dont think that people look up the actual definition of terms in a thesaurus anymore. They hear it in some context and create their own personal definition. It wasn't as obvious before the internet i think, but nowadays everyone is bombarded with technical terms all the time, which likely contributes massively to this increasingly fluid terminology
standardly 4y ago
Also, the use of "unironically". What is going on there.

jibe 4y ago

There is generally a negative connotation to race to the bottom. The Investopedia definition captures this: The race to the bottom refers to a competitive situation where a company, state, or nation attempts to undercut the competition's prices by sacrificing quality standards or worker safety (often defying regulation), or reducing labor costs.

jonplackett 4y ago
Thanks. Yes this is what I'm trying to say - a race to the bottom is about companies seeing how crap of a service they can give you that you're still willing (or have little choice) to pay for. This appears to the the exact opposite, a race to provide more services and more features for a lower price, based on optimising and/or lower profit margins. AKA Capitalism actually working for a change.