Mads SkydtNov 24, 2024
Michael Porter

I was listening to the radio version of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy yesterday...

"The major problem, one of the major problems, for there are several, one of the *many* major problems with governing people is that of who you get to do it, or rather, of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

"To summarize, it is a well-known and much-lamented fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.

"To summarize the summary, anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary, people are a problem."

Douglas Adams was ahead of his time.
(EDIT: Okay, he wasn't, this idea goes back to Plato... But still, has there ever been a more perfect example of this idea than Trump? Oof.)

#USPolitics #USPoli #OrangeShitgibbon

Nov 24, 2024 at 7:43pmWeb
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Nov 24, 2024
@MichaelPorter Much the same issue in bomb disposal.
Show threadMichael PorterNov 24, 2024
@_thegeoff Ha! You have experience in this??
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Nov 24, 2024
@MichaelPorter Only the once, I didn't enjoy it, don't want to do it again, and nothing exploded. So I'm an ideal candidate apparently ;)
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Nov 24, 2024

@MichaelPorter A 6th year (~17yr old) student asked me to check their experimental setup. It was a hydrocarbon thing under reflux, but as they were using the same kit as distillation they'd screwed a thermometer into the top, making a closed system, made of glass, with a bunsen under it, full of flammable fluid. Jets of vapour were trying to escape the glass joints, everything was rattling.

I turned off gas, closed fume cupboard, and suggested we have a cup of tea, locking the door behind me.

Show threadMichael PorterNov 24, 2024
@_thegeoff Oh boy... Lots of potential for bad outcomes there. Good thing they checked with you!
Show threadWayne WernerNov 24, 2024
@_thegeoff @MichaelPorter beware of leopards
Show threadAlexey MintsNov 24, 2024
@MichaelPorter There's nothing "ahead of his time" here. I would not be surprised if the idea was already stated by likes of Plato and Aristotle. This does not diminish Adams's writings in any way.
Show threadDaniel BarlowNov 24, 2024
@MichaelPorter

"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"

(from the book version of So Long and Thanks ...)
Show threadStefan SchollNov 24, 2024
@MichaelPorter hasn't Plato said something similar?
Show threadMichael PorterNov 25, 2024

@Stefan_S_from_H Not lately... πŸ˜‰

(You made me go and look, and yes, he did say desire to be a leader was undesirable. So maybe the thought originates with him. He also said a lot of other interesting things about how a society should create leaders - I think he was more naive than me, in that respect πŸ˜„)

Show threadNorman WilsonNov 25, 2024
@MichaelPorter The radio version is The Version. I should re-listen myself.
Show threadAlisonW β™ΏπŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈNov 26, 2024
@MichaelPorter
As Jim Morrison and The Doors correctly noted, People are strange.
Show thread⁂ Fish Id WardrobeNov 26, 2024
@MichaelPorter Re: your edit β€” OTHER THAN PLATO, Douglas was ahead of his time.
Show threadMichael PorterNov 26, 2024
@fishidwardrobe πŸ˜„