Marginalia - 1/22/2023

Aliens, cuteness, desired behaviors, Wikipedia.

22 Jan 2023 — 3 min read

Marginalia is a weekly synthesis of the flotsam, jetsam, and whatnot of the news cycle with a few dry, sarcastic one-liners here and there.

Hope We're Cute

It is statistically likely there are more advanced alien civilizations out there.
Hopefully, they're good environmentalists and find us cute.
- Naval Ravikant

Execupundit is the blog of Michael Wade. It's a must read blog.

As for the quote... what happens to those of us who aren't "cute?"

Respectfully submitted for your perusal — a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we're going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. This is the Twilight Zone.
– Rod Serling, "To Serve Man" - The Twilight Zone

The prospects aren't all that appetizing. At least for us.

Desired → Normal Behavior

“Surround yourself with people where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.”
– James Clear via swissmiss

I'm 52. I feel 82 most days.

And that does have its upsides.

One of those upsides is quickly identifying individuals with whom I wish to associate. I'm comfortable at this point in my life with a tight circle of family, friends and acquaintances. Those who are in the circle are those I trust... those with universal principles and values minus fanatical, delusional religiosity.

That is exceedingly rare in this time of rancor and polarization.

When the desired behavior of others doesn't match yours, take a step back.

Or several.

In the Event You Need a Reminder

I have something to tell you, dear reader. The web is fucked. It’s a sad state of affairs that we’re in - gone are the days of Web 1.0 where the humble personal blog and the likes of GeoCities reigned supreme.
Instead we’ve been left with Web 1.0’s rotten remains where centralisation, monopolies and tracking are the order of the day.
It’s shit.
– The Web Is Fucked

A one-page manifesto.

If the word "fuck" is the only thing that bothers you after reading that link, then you have something in common with the web.

You are fucked as well.

Not a Scream, But A Smile

All the scaffolding is the same: Wikipedia is still Wikipedia, just with more whitespace, a more prominent search bar and language switcher, and a sticky table of contents. There’s also a collapsible sidebar and maximum line width, which make the site more clean and less cluttered.
– Annie Rauwerda, Slate