Interesting Links for 27-1-2011

[andrewducker]

• "Smartphones" to become "phones", achieve world domination by 2015.
  (tags: mobile_phones TheFuture android)
• The response of Liberty to the UK Counter-Terrorism review. I agree wholeheartedly.
  (tags: uk rights politics government)
• A Template For Every Awful Facebook Discussion You've Ever Witnessed
  (tags: facebook funny argument)
• The Least Essential Wikipedia Pages
  (tags: wikipedia funny)
• “For Hate’s Sake” — Angry Birds Fanfic. I was wondering if there was any, huzzah for the internet!
  (tags: fanfic AngryBirds)
• A discussion of the term "speculative fiction"
  (tags: scifi writing)
• Control orders cut back. But not by bloody well nearly enough.
  (tags: law uk headdesk)
• This is the web right now - very very funny.
  (tags: internet funny 2010)

Comments

A Template For Every Awful Facebook Discussion You've Ever

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

:)

Re: A Template For Every Awful Facebook Discussion You've Ever

[lizzie-and-ari.livejournal.com]

Yes.

Re: A Template For Every Awful Facebook Discussion You've Ever

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Definitely.

I used to be 'The Thoughtful One'. I'd only ever post about subjects that I knew quite a bit about. Tragically, my academic background and some of my interests mean that those subjects tended to be economics and to a lesser extent politics. While many people are happy to accept that there are different viewpoints in politics, all too many people without any real background in economics are convinced that they are RIGHT. ALL THE TIME.

Which annoyed me after a time, so I stopped. I'm not an argumentative sort, and many of the people I disagreed with on a subject were good friends. I'd rather stay friends and not have an argument. Some people might think that makes me weak. I'd prefer to think that it makes me more likeable.

Incidentally, as I don't know you, I clicked through to your posts and there is one that basically says "You know more about this than I do; explain it to me" (about how the current coalition government would work if the two parties disagreed). That's so rare on livejournal or for that matter, the internet. Kudos. Seriously.

(I'm now concerned that that sounds patronising - it honestly wasn't meant to!)

Re: A Template For Every Awful Facebook Discussion You've Ever

[andrewducker]

I used to argue a _lot_ more than I currently do. I used to hang out on a libertarian singularitarian mailing list and engage in endless near-flaming debates. For no reason that I can currently remember :->

Nowadays I've grown resigned to the idea that I cannot change the mind of every crazy person on the internet, and have become even more P than I used to be (which was always rather a lot). I'd rather try and understand people than smack my head against theirs until one of us passes out. I tend to phrase things more carefully than I used to, and to phrase things more as questions than statements (see latest post about control orders), because I've found that that way I end up understanding more than if I just said what I believe and waited for someone to tell me I'm wrong.

Gah. I'm rambling. It's clearly time for bed.

Anyway - I have been enjoying your posts, I hope you do more.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, I love the format of these posts - put up a selection of interesting links and leave people to think / comment on them. I'm thinking that I might start doing something similar myself. Our friends lists don't overlap much, so hopefully you won't mind if I sometimes borrow some of your links?

[andrewducker]

Absolutely. I don't feel any sense of ownership over them at all.

And yes, it's a format that works well for me, because when I'm tired and can't think of anything interesting to say I can still get interesting discussions on my journal.