Aztec Kings Had Rules for Plagues, Including ‘Do Not Be a Fool’ • Hacker News Board

Re: Aztec Kings Had Rules for Plagues, Including ‘Do Not Be a Fool’

#21

Post by dqpb » Thu, May 14, 2020, 4:00 PM UTC

timerol wrote: post #16

gridlockd wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The advice may sound good, but it clearly did not work.

A tweet that hit hard recently from patio11: https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1258224216156954624 > A gut punch of a paragraph in a 2010 vintage fantasy novel re: plague response: > They were intelligently planned procedures, quickly and efficiently carried out, by men who knew what they were doing. They'd never worked in the past, and this time was no exception.

But our plague response looked nothing like that. Our plague response looked like Chernobyl.

Re: Aztec Kings Had Rules for Plagues, Including ‘Do Not Be a Fool’

#22

Post by jiveturkey » Thu, May 14, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

NicoJuicy wrote: post #2

> Do not be a fool. Do not rush your words, do not interrupt or confuse people. Instead find, grasp, arrive at the truth. Make no one weep. Cause no sadness. Injure no one. Do not show rage or frighten folks. Do not create a scandal or speak with vanity. Do not ridicule. For vain words and mockery are no longer your office. Never, of your own will, make yourself less, diminished. Bring no scorn upon the nation, its l…

It's horrible advice! It sets a standard that cannot possibly be met, not without defining some "other" class and methodically and persistently crushing them.

Re: Aztec Kings Had Rules for Plagues, Including ‘Do Not Be a Fool’

#23

Post by DuskStar » Fri, May 15, 2020, 1:55 AM UTC

dqpb wrote: post #21

timerol wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A tweet that hit hard recently from patio11: https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1258224216156954624 > A gut punch of a paragraph in a 2010 vintage fantasy novel re: plague response: > They were intelligently planned procedures, quickly and efficiently carried out, by men who knew what they were doing. They'd never worked in the past, and this time was no exception.

But our plague response looked nothing like that. Our plague response looked like Chernobyl.

Well, the quote is that the plan, competently carried out, STILL didn't work, and had never worked in the past.