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Hardest problem ~in CS~ in life? Naming things. Once you name something, that's it, there's no taking it back. You can rename it for future material, but the ol

Hardest problem ~in CS~ in life? Naming things. Once you name something, that's it, there's no taking it back. You can rename it for future material, but the old name is never completely going away. The trick is in how you direct people whom encounter the old name towards the new. I don't think it can be done perfectly. How does one know what they don't already know, how does one know to look for something they don't know they're missing? There's also limited time to learn things: you can't learn everything, especially if new things are being created even while you learn others. I think that's just life. Does it eventually cut off all the knowledge associated with the old name, due to the difficulties it introduces in discoverability? Is it harder for only the generation used to the old name, and not an issue for new generations that only know the new name? Or does the newer generation simply not know what they don't know? I am generally in favor of renaming things to non-person descriptive names, like mountains (McKinley->Denali) or highways [0], which often run into the same accusations of "cancel culture." The power dynamic is certainly interesting to observe whenever it's being fought over, but people need to let go of ego and realize that they can't take birds, mountains, highways, high schools or military bases with them. Everything is temporary. Learn you some Buddhism. [0]: https://www.ktoo.org/2022/03/09/bill-would-start-process-of-renaming-highway-named-after-convicted-war-criminal-edwin-glenn/ https://www.ktoo.org/2022/03/09/bill-would-start-process-of-...

dmonitor 3y ago
Remembering that the only job God gave Adam in the Biblical creation story is to go name things. We've always been aware that "giving things good names" is instinctual and important.
jstarfish 3y ago
> people need to let go of ego and realize that they can't take birds, mountains, highways, high schools or military bases with them It's not about taking, it's literally about giving. If I posthumously donate all of my wealth to building housing for the homeless, I want my goddamn name associated with the project. Not out of any sense of vanity (while alive, I'm only ever anonymously charitable) but because I want to set a example for future generations to follow. At some point people will ask "who the hell was this guy that I see his name every day" perhaps and see that this was testament to what I wanted to give back to the world, and why. Taking my name away from it and calling it "Bird House for Humans" means nothing to anyone. Birds didn't build the fucking thing. It didn't just grow from seeds they shat while flying by either. Birds are assholes who give nothing, shit everywhere and steal everything. They would never build anybody a house, least of all one for you. It's just more anti-meritocratic nonsense. There's no point in doing anything nice if you're just going to get written out of history books by shills for Big Bird. Nobody forgets Hitler, Pol Pot or Jeffrey Dahmer and what they stood for, but it's my name and values at risk of being deliberately forgotten because someone was on a power trip. It's existentially insulting.
- mckn1ght 3y ago
  No matter your impact, you will eventually be forgotten, which IMO is the best case scenario–in the worst case, you're reviled for a while for something you'd never even understand or imagine while you were alive, and then forgotten anyways. The longer you're remembered, the higher the likelihood that society's values change enough for vilification. The best you can do is to try to instill your values in those around you while you're alive to live decent and comfortable lives, enough that you believe they will propagate them to those they care about after you are gone, and so on and so forth. There doesn't have to be any one name attached to such values.
- klyrs 3y ago
  > but because I want to set a example for future generations to follow. There's the rub, innit? If you're a eugenicist, we don't wanna follow your example anymore. But we'll keep the building.

dmonitor 3y ago

Remembering that the only job God gave Adam in the Biblical creation story is to go name things. We've always been aware that "giving things good names" is instinctual and important.

jstarfish 3y ago

> people need to let go of ego and realize that they can't take birds, mountains, highways, high schools or military bases with them It's not about taking, it's literally about giving. If I posthumously donate all of my wealth to building housing for the homeless, I want my goddamn name associated with the project. Not out of any sense of vanity (while alive, I'm only ever anonymously charitable) but because I want to set a example for future generations to follow. At some point people will ask "who the hell was this guy that I see his name every day" perhaps and see that this was testament to what I wanted to give back to the world, and why. Taking my name away from it and calling it "Bird House for Humans" means nothing to anyone. Birds didn't build the fucking thing. It didn't just grow from seeds they shat while flying by either. Birds are assholes who give nothing, shit everywhere and steal everything. They would never build anybody a house, least of all one for you. It's just more anti-meritocratic nonsense. There's no point in doing anything nice if you're just going to get written out of history books by shills for Big Bird. Nobody forgets Hitler, Pol Pot or Jeffrey Dahmer and what they stood for, but it's my name and values at risk of being deliberately forgotten because someone was on a power trip. It's existentially insulting.

mckn1ght 3y ago
No matter your impact, you will eventually be forgotten, which IMO is the best case scenario–in the worst case, you're reviled for a while for something you'd never even understand or imagine while you were alive, and then forgotten anyways. The longer you're remembered, the higher the likelihood that society's values change enough for vilification. The best you can do is to try to instill your values in those around you while you're alive to live decent and comfortable lives, enough that you believe they will propagate them to those they care about after you are gone, and so on and so forth. There doesn't have to be any one name attached to such values.
klyrs 3y ago
> but because I want to set a example for future generations to follow. There's the rub, innit? If you're a eugenicist, we don't wanna follow your example anymore. But we'll keep the building.