The Lair

There are many reasons to feel embarassed about something or the other, I suppose – but one of the most powerful motivators is a sense of social etiquette. The most extreme case of not being embarassed, of course is psychopathy (also called sociopathy). But merely to drive the point home, as it were, a few random occurrences in the past week.

Craigslist standard guy wants to meet girl ad. Happens all the time, you’d say. This is true, it does happen all the time. Only, this time the guy in question happens to be Richard Stallman. When I first saw this, I was convinced it was someone’s idea of a joke. You know, free software nerd, can’t get a wummin etc etc. A bit of cross checking and it probably isn’t a joke after all. I think it is fair to say that Stallman is a fairly polarizing figure in the open source world (and beyond). I admire his steadfast adherence to a principle – even if my thoughts about some of his edicts verge dangerously towards dismissing him as a crackpot. He has a sense of humour. He is perhaps as respected (if not more so, especially by the Gnu/fanboys) as Linus Torvalds. To read that Craigslist advert? It was strange, bizarre. Like a comic gag by Ricky Gervais, only better (and it’s ok not to laugh).

How about a social experiment? (probably requires login, use bugmenot to grab one). Students were asked to approach someone in a subway and ask for their seat. The article goes to some length to analyze why this was so difficult for the students. Heck, I would have almost certainly refused to ask for a seat when I didn’t need it. And sometimes, even when I possibly might want a seat. It’s just not something you do. It’s a mortifying experience. Oddly, I feel the same way trying to haggle three wheeler fares. Strange, but there you are.

And the third of these stories is about incest. Yes, I went there. Unknowing twins marry each other is a story that is vaguely disturbing on many levels. No further comments (other than a barely audible Oh shit) seem required, really.