[libre-riscv-dev] useful article on consensus

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 3:01 PM Hendrik Boom <hendrik at topoi.pooq.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 11:30:07AM +0100, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
>
> an extremely long post.  I cringe seeing it, recall in that in another message
> you complained of carpal tunnel problems.

 i know.  and afterwards, i carried on working.  after stretching a
lot.  not first time this happened.

>  Please be gentle on yourself, as much as possible.

 trying.

> No need to reply if I'm correct about the typo below.
>
> >
> > you see this in films where the bad guy says, "The means justify the
> > ends, son"
>
> I think the bad guy says, "The end justifies the means."

 :)

> > and you know they're using that to justify blowing
> > something up that is going to kill 1eN people in order to "save"
> > 1e(N^2).  hero steps in, blah blah, all ends well :)
> >
> > the reason that there can be no compromises on an ethical goal is that
> > the means are *part of the goal*, and "ethical" is defined as "doing
> > good for someone whilst doing no harm TO ANYONE".  and it applies one
> > HUNDRED percent, NO exceptions.
>
> Sometimes all choices lead to harm, even the option of not acting or not
> making a decision.

 from advice of a long-standing friend who does... well... "coaching"
is about 5%-of-a-description, she says "that's the point at which you
ask for outside help".

> Then you have to go for least harm.

 .... or ask for help.

 recognising that is the trick.  and involves precisely the "not
always trying to prove being right" mindset that you mentioned, jacob.

 if you're "always right", then, pathologically, there's zero
possibility of consulting other people.  certainty is a *pathological*
state of mind.

l.