Tr1v14l Pursu1ts: Are /. editors actually bots?

Maxims, rules of thumb and other observations on human cognition and sociocultural affectations

This will be added to on an irregular basis...

What is said to humans directly is received with skepticism and considered with dubiousness while that which is heard in passing, especially that which most conforms to their mentality or prejudices, is readily believed.
Humans have a certain cognitive latency between exposure to new information or experiences and the ability to think dispassionately and intellectually about it.
Humans have a certain cognitive spectrum starting with the moment of exposure to new information or experiences and ending with some point at which the thing is effectively "in the past" for them.
This cognitive spectrum is linked to the emotional process often referred to as shock, anger, denial and acceptance.
The more and faster information or experiences are presented to people and the closer the quarters and the lesser the distance between people, the more their early reactions in the passionate emotional stage are reflected back to them in the manner of responses to those reactions from others in light of those responses.
The more outrages which are suffered without sufficient time to allow emotional bleed-off, the farther the bar for subsequent reaction and outrage are pushed, and the more further events must progress before reaction and outrage.
It is possible for serious detriments to eventually sit below this threshold for long enough for their damaging effects to build and multiply until their entire society undergoes some reactive convulsion.

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Are /. editors actually bots?

Sometimes, you have to wonder about things like this. It seems to be /. Dupe-A-Mania week. Either that, or the /. editors really are bots and we humans are, well, duped.

Whatever the answer, one more question comes to my mind. Does this make /. look stupid because the geeks in charge can't even write a simple Perl script to search for duplicate subject material in the text of their archives or does it merely add to the charm? I guess we'll have to work on a new overused catchphrase for this phenomenon to join the "in Soviet Russia", "I for one welcome our new (insert subject here) overlords" and "1, 2, ,3 ,4, 5. Profit" staples.