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Comment by Jenk | Hacker News Reader

> You don't teach politeness, or manners, or anything else, as a series of actions to repeat unthinkingly.

Yes you do. Everyone and everything is deserving of respect at all times, especially the ones/things you disagree with, or dislike. The same is of every thing from animals to material objects, lest they wantonly waste and/or damage stuff.

This is why _every_ democracy in the world demands their politicians act with respect to their opposition. Some honor these rules more than others, yes, before you quote some breakdown of the process somewhere.

Which renders the rest of your post pointless nonsense.

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Political opposition is human. And there again the principle is human-to-human behavior. Do you thank your front door for unlocking? If not, does that mean you're wantonly damaging it? No. It's not sentient.

My door doesn't speak so is incomparable to Alexa. I do treat it, and every other door I meet, with respect though.

You sure aren't shy of expending the effort to rationalize your decision to be be a baseline dick, reserving politeness for special circumstance, on the internet to strangers.

So if your toaster started talking you would treat it like a person? It's not about being a baseline dick at all. I could be baseline the nicest guy you ever met. I take the time to make the point because I believe teaching unthinking compliance with senseless rules - in the guise of "respect for everything" no less - is ugly, disrespectful of thought and actually immoral. It's also highly contrary to a coder's ethos.

> So if your toaster started talking you would treat it like a person?

Strawman.

> unthinking compliance with senseless

Neither unthinking nor senseless.

> ugly, disrespectful of thought and actually immoral

Absolute hogwash. What terrible reasoning you're just now coming up with.

> > So if your toaster started talking you would treat it like a person?

> Strawman.

You explicitly said the difference between Alexa and a toaster is that the toast doesn't speak. It's reasonable to assume that you believe that the difference between Alexa and a toaster is that the toast doesn't speak.

> > unthinking compliance with senseless

> Neither unthinking nor senseless.

Following rules you were taught without evaluating whether they actually make sense in context is the definition of unthinking.

> Absolute hogwash. What terrible reasoning you're just now coming up with.

That is disrespectful. I'm starting to believe you don't actually understand the concept of respect.

> Following rules you were taught without evaluating whether they actually make sense in context is the definition of unthinking.

Like your rule for being polite at all times being "senseless" or "ridiculous" or any other superlative you could think of without any rational reasoning whatsoever, you mean?

Sure. I can agree with that.

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