Arbitrary but Useful

I guess one other thing that I would say is that the frustration people like me sometimes have about how we don't all use the same systems of measurements or whatever is, like, I get it, it's frustrating. But ultimately, homogeneity had utility when it comes to whether we're talking about kilometers or miles, but there are lots of ways in which it is better for us not to have perfectly fluid, barrier-less communication.

The deeper societal thing I was thinking about is how there are so many arbitrary communication tools that could speed communication for some people, but actually stand in the way of it for others. Clothes and memes and shows and style and whether you learned about the categorical imperative in college...like all of that stuff can give shared systems for communication and...vibing. But they can also be little speed bumps that exclude people or make you less likely to feel like you're getting along with someone. So they can be arbitrary and useful and harmful all at the same time. Things are complicated! That got too big way too fast to fit it into the video as I had structured it so I gave up!


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Useful