Don't feed the troll...

[Chris Angelico]

On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 1:49 PM,  <rurpy at yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 06/18/2013 01:21 AM, Chris Angelico wrote:
>> On Tue, Jun 18, 2013 at 2:39 PM, alex23 <wuwei23 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> tl;dr Stop acting like a troll and we'll stop perceiving you as such.
>>
>> This being Python-list, we duck-type. You don't have to declare that
>> you're a troll, like you would in C; you just react like a troll and
>> we'll treat you as one. We never ask "are you a troll", we just ask
>> "do you quack like a troll".
>
> People are much more complex than Python objects.  While
> duck-typing is a useful heuristic it does not guarantee
> accurate results.  And keep in mind that stereotyping and
> racial profiling are forms of duck typing.  You need to
> be careful when duck-typing people.

On the contrary, stereotyping is "You are-a <quality>, therefore you
will behave in <manner>". This is the opposite: "You behave like a
troll, therefore you are equivalent to a troll". Imagine if we treated
all those with green skin who live under bridges as trolls, no matter
how good their contributions...

ChrisA