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Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

theatlantic.com

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Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#71

Post by takno »

slavik81 wrote: post #20

What the poll results don't tell you is how much people care about the choice they picked. In a representative democracy, it's not just about what the majority wants, but how much people really care. If a majority prefers pepperoni pizza but will eat basically anything, don't be surprised when the representative orders vegetarian. The vegetarians care far more about the exact type of pizza that's served and are more…

It may be cultural thing, but in the UK tech scene at least even if people are flexible about pepperoni it's mostly because there is a large and delicious range of meat-based pizzas to split the vote. The representative who orders just vegetarian pizza clearly isn't thinking in terms of re-election.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#73

Post by aninhumer »

hartpuff wrote: post #69
noir_lord wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If spun right the PR benefits of calling the thing Boaty McBoatface are huge. You could do merchandise, books, characters, You could have Boaty McBoatface sale up to the ice caps to look at why they are melting. It's not like this is unusual we had a Childrens TV series here that was massively popular about talking trains and talking helicopters. I think they squandered a massive opportunity because they don't unders…

The point of the boat isn't to be a Budgie the Helicopter style cash machine, is it? It has a serious purpose. Why does it have to appeal to 4 year olds, who have zero understanding of or interest in what it does? Why does it require an infantile name to appeal to kids who are old enough to be interested in what it does? The only reason this is even any kind of issue is because of the way internet works, where all ki…

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.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#75

Post by radiorental »

baddox wrote: post #59
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…

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?

On the contrary, think of the why/who behind nicknames.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#76

Post by Klathmon »

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 author to write some stories about what the boat is doing that are geared toward children.

It would have been an amazing way to get kids involved and interested in the whole thing.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#77

Post by uptown »

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…

Your reply is about Boaty McBoatface, am I correct?

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#78

Post by hartpuff »

aninhumer wrote: post #73
hartpuff wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of the boat isn't to be a Budgie the Helicopter style cash machine, is it? It has a serious purpose. Why does it have to appeal to 4 year olds, who have zero understanding of or interest in what it does? Why does it require an infantile name to appeal to kids who are old enough to be interested in what it does? The only reason this is even any kind of issue is because of the way internet works, where all ki…

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?

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#79

Post by lucozade »

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…

Hear hear. I'm going to pass on your suggestion to NERC and my children's schools if you don't mind. I think using Boaty as a focus for school science projects is a great idea.

And you're absolutely right, it's bloody un-British to refuse to name it Boaty. I mean, we won't do anything about it but there'll be a lot of tutting I'll be bound.

I'm also a bit sore that they removed the Spanish admiral as an entry. Not exactly fair play. Rather disappointing actually.

Re: Boaty McBoatface and the False Promise of Democracy

#80

Post by aninhumer »

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?

They also said:

> You could have Boaty McBoatface sale up to the ice caps to look at why they are melting.

An example of how it could be used to deliver important messages.

And merchandise can be part of the message anyway.

(I should however note that I just edited my comment to include the word "simply".)

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