3 ms·
Who does this metaphor serve? To me it seems to try to legitimize the actions as a force of nature.
by skinfaxi 3mo ago
Who does this metaphor serve? To me it seems to try to legitimize the actions as a force of nature.
- jauco 3mo agoIt serves you. The lawnmower exists, you might disagree, but it’s not your lawnmower, you can’t uncreate it. But you can and should take care never to put your hand near it.
- skinfaxi 3mo agoWeird, we don't absolve murderers of guilt by saying they are an lawnmower.
- quietsegfault 3mo agoIt’s nonsensical to define the actions of nature as legitimate or illegitimate.
- skinfaxi 3mo agoWhat I meant was that there is no moralizing of natural force, which this metaphor tries to equivocate. Oh, it's just like the wind, don't get in Larry's way!
- quietsegfault 3mo agoTotally understand. Unlike nature, Larry should have some sort of moral compass, though his points to hell.
- pbjerkeseth 3mo agoI read it as a pretty obvious jab at him being inhuman.
- skinfaxi 3mo agoThat's exactly my point. Labelling him as inhuman gives him a pass, like how we don't criticize hurricanes as malevolent.
- runjake 3mo agoIt's a twist on the Scorpion and the Frog story. In other words, Larry Ellison is going to do what Larry is going to do, and there's no use wondering why. Usually, that's to make money and sue people, at any expense. It's in his nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog
- senderista 3mo agoThat’s an interesting story to bring up in this context, because I have always wondered how a fundamentally customer-hostile business like Oracle could be so successful. It really puts the lie to libertarian cliches about the invisible hand of capitalism that ends up being philanthropic in spite of itself.
- calvinmorrison 3mo agothose libertarians almost certainly don't believe in asinine things like 'copyright'
- inigyou 3mo agoLibertarians almost always support government regulations that benefit rich people.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- TimTheTinker 3mo agoI think free society in general absolutely requires its people to be generally moral and civil. Freedom inevitably evaporates as morality and civility decline. And that's why it's important to go after morally corrupt, uncivil monsters. The problem today is that the press and the DAs/courts are complicit--they're less interested than ever in pursuing public morality and civility as ends in themselves. They're mostly only interested in partisan politics.
- skinfaxi 3mo ago
- malux85 3mo agoThe lawn mower is operating within the laws that constraints it (laws of physics in this case) and not a greater sense of morality. Lessons: - The only way to constrain what the lawnmower does, is make sure what do desire is enforced by law (physics) - A reminder, the lawnmower will chop your hand off and think nothing of it - The lawnmower is not "evil" but if the laws that constrain it allow for evil behavior, it may do "evil" things.
- wavemode 3mo agoWell (to make an analogy), nature produces psychopaths - some people's brains just aren't capable of empathy. Whether you characterize that observation as "legitimizing" or just "being realistic" is merely a philosophical concern.
- inigyou 3mo agoAnyone who is trying to understand Oracle