I used to be on a debate team. One of the things you learn doing debate, is that winning doesn't mean you're right. And sometimes, being "right" is actually an obstacle to a winning argument.

If both sides don't enter a disagreement with the shared goal of finding truth, then it's just a game. Which is fine in a debate competition, but sucks everywhere else. A lot of shitty decisions are made just because they're easier to explain to third parties in positions of power, who don't necessarily understand the questions as deeply as the people presenting their ideas.

This is politics. This is the courts. This is medical care. This is business. And this is why every profession that relies on persuasion, has a code of ethics for it's practitioners.

Otherwise decisions are made by the best arguer, not the best argument.

My video this week asks a very simple question: would you ride in this elevator?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNw7Gx-vbM

A lion woke up one morning, not too long ago, in a really bad mood. So he decided to go for a stroll and survey his domain.

#Curmudgeonry 1/8

I’m going to get back to more diaper posting … but first this :p

I absolutely love that gtek went out of their way to put this little drawing on this package. Like, it is sooooo unnecessary. In this box are a pair of spf+ modules, aka the most boring enterprisey kind of product. And not even modern boring enterprisey - but old enough to nearly be obsolete boring enterprisey. It’s not a fun “gamer” product. No one is just looking at these on a shelf and picking the one that pops. I’ve literally never even seen them on a shelf at a store, because no one buys them at a store. They usually come in an unlabeled plastic clamshell with a non-descript barcode. The box makes zero difference.

Yet, now that I got this set, I’m never buying another brand.

That’s a scientist holding a module like a bazooka on the left, some kind of network card necromancer in the middle, and a cheap Harry Potter knock off with a LC multi-mode fiber staff on the right. And they’re posed together like a movie poster … on the boring enterprise product box. I love it so much. I want it on a shirt, I want Netflix to develop a series, I want to read the original manga and then complain about how bad the Netflix series is.

Anyway, if you know who the artist is and how to contact them, I’d like to get my box autographed 😆

This is bringing me joy this morning.