Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy • Hacker News Board

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#201

Post by gaius » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 3:46 PM UTC

Klathmon wrote: post #76

buserror wrote: post #46

And what's wrong exactly if the name appeals to every 5 years old in the country? I think /that/ is inspirational -- how better to get kids interested in the science than having them following that boat adventures over the oceans? I think refusing that name would be not just be 'anti democratic' -- it's just be very un-british, because as a foreigner, that's /exactly/ what I'd expect the british to come up with as a…

Seriously! I can't believe that the boat probably won't be named Boaty McBoatface! My nephew would have wanted to learn about it, it would have been something I could keep up to date a bit on what it's doing and he'd love to hear about it. Hell I can't believe the people on the project didn't go 100% for it right away, giving the boat a fun paint-job and maybe even doing something like working with a children's book…

I can think of nothing more likely to turn teenagers off science than being told to study the adventures of Boaty McBoatface.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#202

Post by basch » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 3:48 PM UTC

mseebach wrote: post #165

jernfrost wrote: post #22

I don't agree with a lot of the conclusions of this article. E.g. they propose that voting "probably" works the same way in all other countries as the US. There are plenty of objections to be made against that. E.g. 1) the US being a two party state means that getting representatives which represents the great variety of voter opinions is exceedingly difficult. 2) US elections are so dominated by advertisement, expen…

I don't really agree with the article either, but for different reasons. Voting is to democracy as is telescopes is to astronomy. Democracy is about the people being in charge, of the government existing for the benefit of the people (as opposed to a dictator/absolute monarch/aristocracy) on the broadest possible stretches. It's about replacing the people in charge peacefully every few years. It's not about every dec…

having people in charge makes it a republic. direct democracy would be voting on everything.

most technically we call ourselves a Federal Republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_republic

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#203

Post by imgabe » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 3:48 PM UTC

scurvy wrote: post #158

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of airports, I know of several people who outright refuse to refer to Washington National Airport by its current name, "Ronald Regan Washington National Airport". They will go so far as to correct someone who says "Regan National" and insist, "Washington National."

Would these people happen to be air traffic controllers? Also, most people in DC just call it National. Probably because the other airport also has a one word name (Dulles).

Some people in DC are still annoyed by the renaming, partly because of the air controller thing, and partly because Congress changed the name against the wishes of the people of DC and then forced DC to pay for changing the signs out of the city's budget.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#204

Post by red_admiral » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:01 PM UTC

noja wrote: post #170

red_admiral wrote: post #143

There's two things we British excel at, silliness and pedantry. So it's no suprise that the best objection I've heard to the name so far is that it's stupid because the vessel is clearly a SHIP, not a BOAT.

Shippy McShipface? Sounds like something from urban dictionary.

I guess the NERC researchers might be a bit less keen if there was a risk they'd ever have to put out a distress call like this over a bad radio connection:

"mayday ma-day may--y this is Shi--y McShi-face ..."

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#205

Post by hartpuff » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:03 PM UTC

hartpuff wrote: post #78

aninhumer wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The parent wasn't simply talking about making it a "cash machine", they're talking about using it as a PR vehicle for science. And you don't have to be a child to appreciate the name, just not quite as allergic to whimsy as you seem to be.

> You could do merchandise, books, characters He was talking about free merchandise, books, characters then?

Wow, it's extremely irritating to see this (parent) post downvoted by people who may not realize (till after downvoting) that what I replied to was edited - from denying what I said to admitting it, making my reply look redundant.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#206

Post by DonHopkins » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:04 PM UTC

HoopleHead wrote: post #154

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of airports, I know of several people who outright refuse to refer to Washington National Airport by its current name, "Ronald Regan Washington National Airport". They will go so far as to correct someone who says "Regan National" and insist, "Washington National."

Well, given the guy's name was "Reagan", it does warrant some kind of correction.

You mean it's not named after Reagan's chief of staff?

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#207

Post by DonHopkins » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:06 PM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #203

scurvy wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would these people happen to be air traffic controllers? Also, most people in DC just call it National. Probably because the other airport also has a one word name (Dulles).

Some people in DC are still annoyed by the renaming, partly because of the air controller thing, and partly because Congress changed the name against the wishes of the people of DC and then forced DC to pay for changing the signs out of the city's budget.

Didn't they name a fruit [1] after the mayor-for-life of Washington DC?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marionberry

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#208

Post by DonHopkins » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:07 PM UTC

JBReefer wrote: post #171

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of airports, I know of several people who outright refuse to refer to Washington National Airport by its current name, "Ronald Regan Washington National Airport". They will go so far as to correct someone who says "Regan National" and insist, "Washington National."

Part of it is that it was named after him while he was still alive, and part of it is that DC is very, very blue.

I think it's less because they were blue, and more because they were devastated by his policies.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#209

Post by DonHopkins » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:14 PM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #101

baddox wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see much fun in that. The funny thing about getting the ship named Boaty McBoatface is that it would be painted on the ship and would be named as such in official documentation. The ability to casually refer to the ship by that name does exist, obviously, but how often do people refer to specific government ships by name anyway?

One has to wonder if someone will decide to apply an unauthorised paint job at some point..

I hope somebody paints a big face on it.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#210

Post by hobbyjogger » Fri, Apr 22, 2016, 4:16 PM UTC

chollida1 wrote: post #111

mrob wrote: post #2

The solution is simple. Continue calling the boat Boaty McBoatface. Ignore all references to the government's preferred name. They can choose what's painted on the side, but the name depends only on what people call it. If enough people call it Boaty McBoatface its name really is Boaty McBoatface. If your job depends on calling it the government's preferred name then subtly alter the timing of your speech to make it…

> The solution is simple. Continue calling the boat Boaty McBoatface. Ignore all references to the government's preferred name. This is good advice. In Toronto we have a baseball stadium called the Rogers Center ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Centre ). It was originally called the SkyDome but it was bought by a company called Rogers and renamed. Everyone still refers to it as the Skydome. Corporate branding b…

Habit is a powerful thing.

It's been nearly a decade since Austin's "Town Lake" was renamed by the city council as "Lady Bird Lake" (in honor of Lady Bird Johnson). To this day, I'm not sure I've ever heard it referred to as anything other than Town Lake. I certainly can never remember to use the new name.