From ec00a69ef1f7d21f784264b75d6fcca97fa7fb78 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Andrew Yu Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2023 12:00:14 +0800 Subject: Use ``TeX-style quotes'' instead of “unicode quotes” MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --- article/abortion.html | 4 +- article/copyright.html | 2 +- article/democracy-fundamentals.html | 10 ++--- article/democracy-us.html | 10 ++--- article/dream-of-the-whisker.html | 6 +-- article/free-hardware.html | 10 ++--- ...e-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html | 2 +- article/math-science-and-philosophy.html | 46 +++++++++++----------- article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html | 12 +++--- article/purple-hibiscus.html | 6 +-- article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html | 6 +-- article/the-old-web-was-better.html | 6 +-- contact.html | 2 +- index.html | 8 ++-- note/ask.html | 2 +- note/comms.html | 4 +- note/emacs.html | 2 +- note/on-racist-jokes.html | 6 +-- note/pronouns.html | 2 +- note/really.html | 8 ++-- note/social-media.html | 4 +- note/suicide-jokes.html | 2 +- note/wechat.html | 2 +- other-articles/consolation-of-philosophy.html | 34 ++++++++-------- other-articles/custodians-online.html | 16 ++++---- 25 files changed, 106 insertions(+), 106 deletions(-) diff --git a/article/abortion.html b/article/abortion.html index 3236f54..d4a0583 100644 --- a/article/abortion.html +++ b/article/abortion.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@

Article ID: 3

-In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with “privacy”, derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution. As the U.S. has a precedential judiciary system, this effectively legalizes abortion across the country. +In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with ``privacy'', derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution. As the U.S. has a precedential judiciary system, this effectively legalizes abortion across the country.

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ The poor person was life, and your decision did cause their decession. But is t

-There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency is basically “alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST help them and keep them alive”, there's not much to discuss there in my opinion.) +There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency is basically ``alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST help them and keep them alive'', there's not much to discuss there in my opinion.)

diff --git a/article/copyright.html b/article/copyright.html index cf0cfa2..1a101b1 100644 --- a/article/copyright.html +++ b/article/copyright.html @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@

- Information unlike physical items can be copied with minimal cost, especially in the case of digital information, and thus the traditional private property argument of “this is theft and the author loses stuff” doesn't really apply. However, information/data that an author creates shall be under the control of the author, it's ultimately what they create and is their private information. The authors, not anyone else, should control how their information goes. (Transferring this control to another entity is ultimately using their control to share or give away the same control, so that's no different.) + Information unlike physical items can be copied with minimal cost, especially in the case of digital information, and thus the traditional private property argument of ``this is theft and the author loses stuff'' doesn't really apply. However, information/data that an author creates shall be under the control of the author, it's ultimately what they create and is their private information. The authors, not anyone else, should control how their information goes. (Transferring this control to another entity is ultimately using their control to share or give away the same control, so that's no different.)

diff --git a/article/democracy-fundamentals.html b/article/democracy-fundamentals.html index 7d88e9a..4b71ab6 100644 --- a/article/democracy-fundamentals.html +++ b/article/democracy-fundamentals.html @@ -9,24 +9,24 @@

Democracy: Fundamentals (Unfinished)

Article ID: 4

-

Unless otherwise specified, “democracy” in this article refers to representative democracy. “Country” can additionally refer to other regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, provinces in some countries, etc.

+

Unless otherwise specified, ``democracy'' in this article refers to representative democracy. ``Country'' can additionally refer to other regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, provinces in some countries, etc.

- We usually think of “democracy” as people influencing the policies of the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the field that are making the actual policies. + We usually think of ``democracy'' as people influencing the policies of the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the field that are making the actual policies.

- The Chinese term for democracy is “民主”. The first character, “民”, means “people”; the second, “主”, ascin “主人” means “owner”. You could understand it as saying “the people of the country own the country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)”. But at the same time, “主” as in “自主” means “do things themselves”, i.e. the right not to be interfered by others while doing their own business. + The Chinese term for democracy is ``民主''. The first character, ``民'', means ``people''; the second, ``主'', ascin ``主人'' means ``owner''. You could understand it as saying ``the people of the country own the country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)''. But at the same time, ``主'' as in ``自主'' means ``do things themselves'', i.e. the right not to be interfered by others while doing their own business.

This is, of course, not the proper definition for democracy; democracy is just saying that the general public ultimately runs the country. But we could take the time to appreciate how with democracy we usually end up with liberty and how we take personal liberty for granted.

- In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, that the decisions of elected experts are for “running the country”—I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts and crimes). The “will of the people”, represented by the government, have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.) + In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, that the decisions of elected experts are for ``running the country''—I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts and crimes). The ``will of the people'', represented by the government, have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.)

People overemphasize the importance of democracy. In fact, democracy is in my opinion less important than liberty—though in practice indeed liberty wouldn't survive for long without democracy.

- Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The “privacy” and “personal liberty” arguments don't stand up well against this as it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly on the line. I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are placing in many states for a different reason. + Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The ``privacy'' and ``personal liberty'' arguments don't stand up well against this as it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly on the line. I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are placing in many states for a different reason.

Modern populism (which is a poorly-defined term but does have the following general scope) gives the power of deciding everything that happens in the country to the people. This is bad in two ways. (1) The general public often make uninformed and un-thought-through decisions and are easily influenced. (2) The government, in this case directly the collective decision of the people, is stepping its feet into the personal lives of people. While it is democratic, it doesn't give people liberty, creating a tyranny of the majority, and at the same time making uninformed decisions which are better made by experts which people elect. diff --git a/article/democracy-us.html b/article/democracy-us.html index cecfdaf..c75efc9 100644 --- a/article/democracy-us.html +++ b/article/democracy-us.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@

Democracy: The United States (Unfinished)

Article ID: 5

- When people talk about democracies, it's common to think of the US Constitution as the “defining point of democracy”. While the US is the first modern democracy, its laws is far from perfect. In fact, it may be one of the worst of modern time! I will briefly go through the following. + When people talk about democracies, it's common to think of the US Constitution as the ``defining point of democracy''. While the US is the first modern democracy, its laws is far from perfect. In fact, it may be one of the worst of modern time! I will briefly go through the following.

diff --git a/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html b/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html index ef6d50e..7e48eb6 100644 --- a/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html +++ b/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@

Abstract

- Free Software is undoubtably a good thing for society. However, modern computer users are stuck in the proprietary “ecosystem” for historical reasons. This document describes the justification and best current practices of using proprietary platforms to spread the ideas of Free Software. + Free Software is undoubtably a good thing for society. However, modern computer users are stuck in the proprietary ``ecosystem'' for historical reasons. This document describes the justification and best current practices of using proprietary platforms to spread the ideas of Free Software.

Status of This Memo

@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@

- In February 2022, the author decided to permit limited usage of nonfree chat platforms to hopefully spread our ideas to the general public. This was attempted by registering a Discord account, creating a Guild called “Free Software Introductions”, and setting up a basic Discord-to-IRC relay to #fsi on both irc.andrewyu.org and irc.libera.chat. + In February 2022, the author decided to permit limited usage of nonfree chat platforms to hopefully spread our ideas to the general public. This was attempted by registering a Discord account, creating a Guild called ``Free Software Introductions'', and setting up a basic Discord-to-IRC relay to #fsi on both irc.andrewyu.org and irc.libera.chat.

- One of the communities that he knows about, the VF-Technic Minetest community, primarily uses Discord as a means of communication by players not in-game. As the users inside are Minetest players, a Free Software voxel sandbox game, similar to but much more flexible and freedom-respecting than Minecraft, it is believed that the users have some contact with Free Software, although they might not understand the freedom part of the issue, i.e. they might be thinking in terms of “open source” instead, and do not understand the harms of nonfree JavaScript and services like Discord. After sharing the invite link in the VF-Technic Guild, some people joined, and we've partially converted two users. + One of the communities that he knows about, the VF-Technic Minetest community, primarily uses Discord as a means of communication by players not in-game. As the users inside are Minetest players, a Free Software voxel sandbox game, similar to but much more flexible and freedom-respecting than Minecraft, it is believed that the users have some contact with Free Software, although they might not understand the freedom part of the issue, i.e. they might be thinking in terms of ``open source'' instead, and do not understand the harms of nonfree JavaScript and services like Discord. After sharing the invite link in the VF-Technic Guild, some people joined, and we've partially converted two users.

Justification

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@

- Generally, users on IRC and XMPP have a fair understanding of the Free Software Movement, and it is quick and easy to inform them what we mean by “free”, “the four freedoms”, and similar ideas. For users on the Libera Chat IRC network, which by far has the most users of any network, it is exceptionally easy to introduce a user into the #fsf channel for discussions with people supporting Free Software. Introducing ignorant users on these protocols and platforms are a day-to-day simple task. Furthermore, the amount of users we can reach on these protocols are rather limiting. Libera has around forty thousand users according to the `LUSERS` command, and considering the fact that around 90% of these people aren't ignorant, there isn't much we can do. + Generally, users on IRC and XMPP have a fair understanding of the Free Software Movement, and it is quick and easy to inform them what we mean by ``free'', ``the four freedoms'', and similar ideas. For users on the Libera Chat IRC network, which by far has the most users of any network, it is exceptionally easy to introduce a user into the #fsf channel for discussions with people supporting Free Software. Introducing ignorant users on these protocols and platforms are a day-to-day simple task. Furthermore, the amount of users we can reach on these protocols are rather limiting. Libera has around forty thousand users according to the `LUSERS` command, and considering the fact that around 90% of these people aren't ignorant, there isn't much we can do.

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@

Current Practices

- Activists MUST NOT list such nonfree services in “Contact Information” pages on their website or similar sources, unless followed by a explanation that the purpose of the nonfree platform is to introduce users thereof onto free protocols and to eventually exterminate the nonfree platform. Whenever these references to nonfree platforms appear, the author MUST present free methods of communication. Activists SHOULD pragmatically use as many of the popular free protocols as possible, to ensure that oppurtunities of introductions are not lost. In cases involving competition between free and nonfree protocols and platforms, ethical concerns (i.e. enabling talking to a new user on any ethical platform) MUST take precedence over technical concerns (such as disliking the XMPP protocol for its inefficent use of XML). + Activists MUST NOT list such nonfree services in ``Contact Information'' pages on their website or similar sources, unless followed by a explanation that the purpose of the nonfree platform is to introduce users thereof onto free protocols and to eventually exterminate the nonfree platform. Whenever these references to nonfree platforms appear, the author MUST present free methods of communication. Activists SHOULD pragmatically use as many of the popular free protocols as possible, to ensure that oppurtunities of introductions are not lost. In cases involving competition between free and nonfree protocols and platforms, ethical concerns (i.e. enabling talking to a new user on any ethical platform) MUST take precedence over technical concerns (such as disliking the XMPP protocol for its inefficent use of XML).

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@

- For example, the author created a Discord Guild called Free Software Introductions, which is one-way-puppeted to #fsi on irc.andrewyu.org, which is then one-way-puppeted to Libera. The relay system is sort-of messed up, but it's working. Inviting new users to such Guilds (https://discord.gg/7CYp7ntww7) when perse refuses to or is ignorant on how to use IRC helps conveying our ideas to users, but as the author has made their own “sacrifice” already, there exists less of a need for other existing Free Software activists to join and use it instead of free protocols. + For example, the author created a Discord Guild called Free Software Introductions, which is one-way-puppeted to #fsi on irc.andrewyu.org, which is then one-way-puppeted to Libera. The relay system is sort-of messed up, but it's working. Inviting new users to such Guilds (https://discord.gg/7CYp7ntww7) when perse refuses to or is ignorant on how to use IRC helps conveying our ideas to users, but as the author has made their own ``sacrifice'' already, there exists less of a need for other existing Free Software activists to join and use it instead of free protocols.

Technical Limitations

diff --git a/article/purple-hibiscus.html b/article/purple-hibiscus.html index 006be1e..55ccf63 100644 --- a/article/purple-hibiscus.html +++ b/article/purple-hibiscus.html @@ -12,11 +12,11 @@

These are some random, unorganized thoughts on Purple Hibiscus, particularly around the bildungsroman of Mama.

-

Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often, especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, “it was not just the figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything”, suggesting that the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change in Mama—from someone that views herself as a “wife” and a “woman” and truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.

+

Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often, especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, ``it was not just the figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything'', suggesting that the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change in Mama—from someone that views herself as a ``wife'' and a ``woman'' and truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.

-

I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would perceive “the figures broke” as a fundamental change in the family environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present, Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so. Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her exact actions on Palm Sunday.

+

I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would perceive ``the figures broke'' as a fundamental change in the family environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present, Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so. Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her exact actions on Palm Sunday.

-

Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the “desperate act” of poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions, which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state. This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt of killing a supposed “loved one” tends to make people numb and hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance. Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that that's the actual point of the novel.

+

Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the ``desperate act'' of poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions, which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state. This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt of killing a supposed ``loved one'' tends to make people numb and hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance. Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that that's the actual point of the novel.

(Then there's Jaja getting into prison and the weeks before he gets out of prison and such, which gets messier. I don't have the time and energy to write about that today, so I guess that comes later.)