Pluralistic: 06 Mar 2022


A picture of a grinning skull in a mortarboard. From The Epistasix (1920)/Medical Society of the University of Toronto.

The Epistasix (1920)/Medical Society of the University of Toronto

Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 06 Mar 2022"

Give Me Slack

My parental worries, ca. 2021.

subgenius.com

I was a mere lad of fifteen when I first encountered the Church of the Subgenius, a joke religion started by a group of prankster surrealists out of Austin and parts elsewhere. The faith is represented by J.R. “Bob” Dobbs, a grinning, square-jawed salesman with a pipe clenched in his square, white teeth, who promises “slack” to all who profess the faith.

Slack was — and is — an enticing concept. I always interpreted “slack” as a synonym for “forgiveness,” that is, the idea that our systems would have graceful failure modes, in which errors and failings were never terminal, and could always be redone. A philosophy for an age of “Save Game” and ⌘-Z.

Continue reading "Give Me Slack"

Pluralistic: 29 Sep 2021


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 29 Sep 2021"

Pluralistic: 09 Feb 2021


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 09 Feb 2021"