Notices by Paul (Tex) Hewson (texhewson@datasci.social)

@callisto @nilsskirnir @GutterPoetry @Remittancegirl @murdoc @Profpatsch @DarkAthena @johnnyprofane1 @bmacDonald94 @actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd I can definitely comment on that one. Catholic schools in the 1970s were very worried about me being left handed (I won't joke here about it being a sign of satanic possesion but a very young me was definitely frightened out of using my left hand). So I should be left handed, but was forced not to be.

@GutterPoetry @nilsskirnir @Remittancegirl @murdoc @Profpatsch @DarkAthena @johnnyprofane1 @bmacDonald94 @actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd I also think the industrial revolution made it more necessary to worry about these things. Before, you'd send six peasants out to build a wall. You didn't care if one of them was too (insert modern diagnosis) to help. You got the wall built, you fed the six. Nowadays, we're so performance managed a pregnant woman can be told she goes to the toilet too often.

@davidaugust @paco @SaanichGuy I read a biography of Hitler once where the author argued he and cronies had never had skilled jobs (and I don't master craftsman level skill) therefore they were unaware of the value of skill and knowledge in any job. Cue a few decades of minimum wage freeze, demonising "unskilled work" and we seem to have politicians with the same attitude/ blind spot.

@bmacDonald94 I love Playing for Change

@anna I'm not global south but (a) I need a smartphone to park my car (b) I need WhatsApp to communicate with people in a Kayak club and (c) I use Facebook to stay in touch with some family members who are scattered around the world. I can see an answer to (c) (just tell them I will use email) but (b) is harder because it means asking volunteers to stop doing something they find convenient.

@clare_hooley @liztai yes, that's a whole other issue; who gets to decide what's in today's headlines. For myself, I've no more interest in what Musk or Drump post on social media but we all pretty much chose to pay attention.

@liztai I think we are incapable of a nuanced discussion in the West about Free Speech. And I think the detail and the nuance is what matters. We have interesting libel laws in the UK, which restrict what you can say; even the threat of court action can prevent a poor person saying things about a rich person. But some people don't mind that, they mind the state trying to define "hate speech". I can't completely follow all the arguments, but I hear a lot of ignorant sound bites all the time

@lovelylovely here in the UK, a major retailer has been running an ad featuring a black Mrs. Santa. That has done exactly what you said, some very unpleasant people are very angry about it. I hope in the middle of the anger, a few people managed to feel a bit more represented.

@mxp In math papers we use "we" a lot. I think the idea is that "we" means the reader and writer together. That's freaked out a few non-math co-authors, even when it was the journal style.

@futurebird @dalias @mattmcirvin I have a few family in their 80s, they insist they are not on any social media (and I think I believe them) but they still seem to pick up all the tropes that are doing the rounds. Maybe things were just as bad before social media, bit we don't have the receipts.

@anna is bandwidth expensive?

@jwz I feel like there'd be a confusing mess of cause and effect here. If you can't be bothered with safety measures,.you'd be more likely to get COVID. It would take quite some control to detect a reduction in use of precautions because of infection rather than because of society in general getting more relaxed. So I'd be interested if you found any studies.

@KeithDJohnson I've been listening to that song quite a lot recently, although I alternate between Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (well, three of them) and Playing for Change. I like the idea of music as a unifying force
https://youtu.be/P5AuFDHdrrg?si=cTN17BZvhStiVWC7

Watching the US elections and I'm wondering if the USA is so great, why did they make a USB