mhoye

Lazyweb, I would like to have a less racist or colonialist word for terminology that's inherited but not understood than "cargo cult".

I want this because my son just described part of a game as a "quicktime event" despite never in his life having seen one.

Jul 1, 2023 at 11:00pmWeb
Show threadPhilJul 1, 2023
@mhoye I've never actually explored the background to 'cargo cult'! Never occurred to me. Where should I start?
Show threadGordon P. HemsleyJul 1, 2023
@mhoye It's a gaming term tho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_time_event?wprov=sfla1
Quick time event - Wikipedia

Show threadmhoyeJul 1, 2023
@GPHemsley Sure, but the most recent games mentioned in that article are still older than my son. It's kind of strange that it's a term that's come to be synonymous with "press X to not die."
Show threadGordon P. HemsleyJul 1, 2023
@mhoye I mean, that's kinda how language works. The term "cargo cult" is older than you too.
Show threadEtriganJul 1, 2023
@mhoye Skeuomorph?
Show threadmhoyeJul 1, 2023
@etrigan That's a decent lead... Do we have a term for skeuomorphism performed in ignorance?
Show threadmhoyeJul 1, 2023
@etrigan I kind of like "naive skeuomorphism" or "clean-slate skeuomorphism" as expressions, the idea that we're trying to express ourselves with an imitation of something having never experienced the original.
Show threadEtriganJul 1, 2023
@mhoye Skeuomentum
Show threadKevin Boyd (he/him) 🇨🇦Jul 1, 2023
@etrigan @mhoye Skeunertia
Show threadJPJul 2, 2023
@mhoye I'm freestyling here but maybe "ritual superstition"? ie magical thinking applied in a specific, repeated pattern of action. It's hard to beat the original problematic phrase for its specificity but I too am on the hunt for a replacement.
Show threadJake AchéeJul 2, 2023

@mhoye “Idiosyncrasy” jumps to mind.

Or maybe just call it a “Vizzini”… as in “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Show threadChris [list of emoji]Jul 2, 2023

@mhoye

"Monkey see, monkey do"?

(I.e. imitation without understanding?)

Show threadThomas SibleyJul 2, 2023
@mhoye what about “copypasta”?
Show threadRob RussellJul 2, 2023
@mhoye Pakled Perspective?
Show threadiain irelandJul 2, 2023
@mhoye
It's not an existing term, but "pigeon superstition" might fit the bill as a general replacement for "cargo cult" (although maybe not in this specific case). If you feed pigeons at a regular interval, then whatever they happen to be doing when you feed them gets reinforced, and you end up with pigeons who firmly believe that spinning in circles three times counterclockwise is critical to making the food appear. (https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/)
Classics in the History of Psychology -- Skinner (1948)