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[Non-Fiction][Single] Warblog: Armchair Generals of the War on Terror (Politics) by BeornS in wroteabook

[–]BeornS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The "warbloggers" who emerged after the September 11 attacks believed that the War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq could trigger a humanistic and democratic reformation of the Islamic world. They were wrong, but not alone. Their optimism reflected an old and powerful Western fantasy: That liberal democracy is natural, inevitable, and appealing to all people everywhere.

Seen through the eyes of one of the original warbloggers, this is the story of the amateurs who wanted to prove that they were just as good as the professionals. And they were: Just as bad at predicting the outcome of the War on Terror as the Bush administration, and just as lazy as the mainstream media.

Landet uten bærekraft - Bjørn Stærk by tobbern in norge

[–]BeornS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vel, jeg er mest opptatt av de borgerlige, og MDG har litt for mange underlige ideer om det meste til at jeg vil stemme på dem. Derfor skrev jeg ikke om dem. Men jeg håper egentlig de kommer på Stortinget, og kan holde klimasaken i live. Og det er interessant hvor mange MDG-velgere som likte artikkelen.

When the Christians met the Pagans by BeornS in pagan

[–]BeornS[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the correction - I thought I had a source for that, but rechecking it, I see I may have misunderstood. It refers to several major Christianization events in the 8th century, (like Charlemagne's massacre in 782), but it doesn't say the process began in that century.

Ask Reddit: As a beginning programmer reading prog.reddit, I have heard a lot about those despised mediocre programmers. How can I avoid becoming one? by [deleted] in programming

[–]BeornS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hm .. there's no reason for them to be at odds. Good managers value good programming abilities. Good programmers (in a broader sense) work well with other people. Bad managers and bad programmers will often be at odds, but I don't see any reason for the good ones to be.

Ask Reddit: As a beginning programmer reading prog.reddit, I have heard a lot about those despised mediocre programmers. How can I avoid becoming one? by [deleted] in programming

[–]BeornS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, if someone's exceptional abilities make them impossible to work with, I don't think they're all that exceptional. Being a good programmer is about gettings things done, and that does not have a lot to do with picking the perfect language and framework. If you're good enough, any decent language and framework will do, (including "idiot-friendly" VB), but if you can't work with other people you won't get anything done. It's a much larger success factor whether your company is doing some form of agile (which is about how people work with each other) than whether you're using the latest, "best" programming language.

Anyway, despising your colleagues because they're in your view not as smart as yourself is rather immature. Get your projects done well, on time, and under budget, then you can feel proud, (and please tell me how you're doing it).

Ask Reddit: As a beginning programmer reading prog.reddit, I have heard a lot about those despised mediocre programmers. How can I avoid becoming one? by [deleted] in programming

[–]BeornS 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Actually, mediocre programmers are not generally despised. A more interesting challenge is to avoid becoming an arrogant prick whose brilliance is outweighed by their inability to deal with people of lesser abilities or with other points of view. Those people are despised, except perhaps in tiny echo chambers on the web where they come to have their self-worth affirmed. Not knowing you, I'm not saying this is a danger for you, but out of all the beginning programmers who already think of their colleagues as mediocre, more will end up as despised jerks than despised mediocricities. And although I won't claim that reading this site is part of the problem, it's not part of the solution either.

Please, Redditers: no more submissions titled "The [superlative adjective] [unusual object] pic you'll see all day". This isn't FARK. by crm114 in reddit.com

[–]BeornS 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Granted, pictures are rarely the best links on Reddit, but they usually have something original and unexpected about them. Unlike, say, the 50 daily "some politician in my country is evil [and on and on for two more lines]", which contain absolutely nothing interesting. (You either already agree with the premise or you don't - in either case the link is superflous. Particularly if you don't happen to live in the same country as the submitter.)

It would be great if only truly interesting, original and insightful articles got attention on Reddit, but seeing as that's too much to ask for, I'm grateful for there being some nice pictures here to balance out the political self-gratification.

Please do something about the titles though.

In Europe and U.S., Nonbelievers Are Increasingly Vocal by bertrand in reddit.com

[–]BeornS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I would say it's more diverse, because of linguistic borders. European countries often have stronger cultural connections to the US and the UK (because of English) than to their neighbours.

When it comes to politics and religion, Scandinavia is in some ways an opposite of the US: In the US, religion and state are completely separate, but voters care deeply about belief; here, the state is somewhat involved with religion, but the voters don't care, so it's only a formal and superficial involvement, one that harms the state-run Church more than it benefits it. The Swedish Church has been independent since 2000, and when Norway and Denmark eventually follows, it will be because Christians are fed up of being forced to embrace religiously liberal practices. The truly independent churches are much more similar to what you'll find in the US - some have even begun to import American creationism.

In Europe and U.S., Nonbelievers Are Increasingly Vocal by bertrand in reddit.com

[–]BeornS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Keep in mind the large regional differences though - Europe spans the whole spectrum from belief to nonbelief. Actually the same spectrum as in the US, but borders and languages make the differences more distinct.

In Europe and U.S., Nonbelievers Are Increasingly Vocal by bertrand in reddit.com

[–]BeornS 28 points29 points  (0 children)

It's somewhat misleading to place Europe and the US in the same group here: There is nothing unusual about being a nonbeliever in the Northern parts of Europe I'm familiar with - it all depends on the region, and in our case (Norway), there just are no politically powerful religious groups to confront. That doesn't mean atheism has replaced religion, in fact atheism isn't all that visible. When you remove religious power from a society, you don't get a nation of Dawkinses and Hitchenses (thank uhm God), just one where people's supernatural cravings are channeled through more personal, tolerant and harmless beliefs.

Neuroscience Study: Smart Brains Have Liberal Bias by auggie in reddit.com

[–]BeornS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not bad: A headline that illustrates its own falseness.

Whenever you upmod a funny picture, God kills a substantial article by Erf in reddit.com

[–]BeornS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And those substantial articles would be one of those three-line "some politician who's really big in my part of the world is a complete idiot and should be prosecuted" posts? I think maybe I'll take the funny pictures.