#469 - Native Mascotry, Brazilian Confederates, and the Real Pilgrims
We’ve settled in Florianopolis for the next month or few. It’s a digital nomad hotspot in the south of Brazil with the stuff they love - sun, developed infrastructure, cheap prices. Some beaches you can’t swim in cuz sewage is dumped nearby though. :(
Will report more in the future about the place, but for now I’m marvelling how different the culture is and how it manifests in random ways - for instance, the deck attached to our Airbnb was recently remodeled, so strangers come by and use it every day, as it’s a nice spot to dip in the canal. Never mind that it’s in front of a private residence.
Is that due to a less individualist culture where goods are shared or a more individualist one where a lack of fences means things are fair game? Probably both!
Tech
This site is written by Native techies petitioning the Apache programming language to change their name away from a Native American mascot, much like those of the many football teams doing the same. This petition is the first I’ve seen that is so well articulated and cited as to the reasons to do so, which hold true elsewhere in naming conventions as well!
This email from a VC fund trying to quantify their value is a good one. The trick is reporting all those little actions in many different apps - apparently he coded his own OS to get at them.
History
Did you know several thousand defeated Confederates moved to an isolated town in Brazil after the Civil War in order to continue with slavery, which wasn’t outlawed for another 20 years there? Today they’re multi racial but they still do archetypically Southern things with the same flag and symbols, which is quite a trip.
Hollywood is rife with depictions of Nazis escaping to South America - I’m curious why they haven’t jumped on this one yet.
I don’t identify as a full on socialist myself, but I’m definitely curious. And this Youtube channel is a great one laying things out in clear communication, independent of the ‘century of propaganda’ Americans usually approach the subject with.
Likewise, perennial favorite Knowing Better has a new deepdive on the true Pilgrims story, which is very very far from what you probably know.
TLDW - the modern Pilgrims/thanksgiving story is essentially the first chapter in the Lost Cause of the Confederacy myth, and thus, American supremacist exceptionalism.
Fun
Schrodinger’s panties are self explanatory, coined in response to anime fan service. :P
I’m reading this excellent 2006 scifi book about the nature of consciousness, Blindsight. Full takeaways when I’m done, but for now, check out this blockbuster fan video some team animated about it!
Can’t remember the last time I saw fan art this professional and assiduous. Mild spoilers if you haven’t read it, but worth a watch for capturing the overall vibe of the book regardless- almost like a Love Death Robots mini episode.