this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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It sounds way less offensive to those who decry the original terminology's problematic roots but still keeps its meaning intact.

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[–] elephantium 33 points 3 months ago (2 children)

What do we want?

For police who commit crimes to have accountability!

What do we get?

We're going to yell at people who use the 'outdated' 'master/slave' terminology!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Because we can't have both? Changing words to be more inclusive is simple. Uprooting entrenched power systems takes a just a teensy bit more effort. Come on, you can see why your argument is spurious, right?

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Police accountability is just the tip of the iceberg, though. A huge issue is the fact that a lot of minority history isn't taught properly in US schools, and important events that define race relations are completely ignored. Using the term "master" to describe Git branches, for example, is just another way of staying ignorant and insensitive to those events.

I can understand that there are some edge cases where master/slave should still be correct as it is accurate, but for every other case, it's still better to use a term that is culturally aware and technically relevant, even if it's a small difference that's part of a larger cultural shift.

[–] elephantium 3 points 3 months ago

just another way of staying ignorant and insensitive to those events.

I don't really see how that follows. Would you mind elaborating?