Teaching python to non-programmers

[Rustom Mody]

On Friday, April 11, 2014 5:04:28 PM UTC+5:30, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> I've been in plenty of mailing list forums where interleaved posting was
> required, but there's only so many times you can tell people off for
> being rude before you start coming across as rude yourself.

> It's one of those nasty aspects of human psychology: the guy who casually
> and without malice tosses litter out of his car window, spoiling things
> for everyone, is somehow considered less obnoxious than the person who
> tells him off. Except in Switzerland, where if you leave your rubbish bin
> out more than twenty minutes after its been emptied, the neighbours
> consider it perfectly acceptable to tell you off, never mind that you've
> been at work. And heaven help you if you take your discarded Christmas
> tree down to the street too early.

Yes this is correct: we make the world a worse place by choosing to
be 'nice guys' when some telling off would help. And I am remiss on this
matter since I dont post that python-google-groups link when I should.  [Can
never find the damn link when needed though I wrote half of it myself!]

For the rest, Im not sure that you need my help in making a fool of yourself...
Anyway since you are requesting said help, here goes:

> On Thu, 10 Apr 2014 22:42:14 -0700, Rustom Mody wrote:
> 
> 
> > People whose familiarity with religion is limited to the Judeo-Christian
> > tradition are inclined to the view (usually implicit) that "being
> > religious" == "belief in God"
> > However there are religions where belief in God is irreligious --
> 
> > Jainism 
> 
> I think that it will come as rather a surprise to Jains to be told that 
> they don't believe in god. In fact, they believe in a multitude of gods 
> (not surprising, as Jainism is derived from Hinduism) and believe that 
> every soul has the potential to become a god. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Jainism
and particularly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Jainism#Heavenly_Beings


> > And others where it is is irrelevant -- Tao, Shinto. [There is
> > the story of a westerner who wen to a shinto temple and said: All this
> > (rites) is fine and beautiful but what's your *philosophy* To which he
> > was told: "Philosophy? We have no philosophy! We dance!"]
> 
> A nice story, but the name "Shinto" even means "The Way Of The Gods", so 
> claiming that Shinto is not about gods is rubbish.

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=b-VACc7jcOAC&lpg=PA159&ots=femTbp96rh&dq=shinto%20%22We%20have%20no%20philosophy%22%20we%20dance&pg=PA159#v=onepage&q=shinto%20%22We%20have%20no%20philosophy%22%20we%20dance&f=false


> > In middle-eastern society women are expected to dress heavier than in
> > the West. A few years ago a girl went to school in France with a scarf
> > and she was penalized.
> 
> Citation please. I think this is bogus, although given how obnoxious some 
> schools can be I'm not quite prepared to rule it out altogether. I think 
> it's far more likely that she was only penalized for wearing full head-
> covering (not just a scarf) after being warned that it was not part of 
> the school uniform and therefore not appropriate.

In spite of Paul pointing out the link (thanks Paul)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_scarf_controversy_in_France

you still persist in

> in this specific case, I stand by my skepticism

So you think that wikipedia link/article is bogus?



Anyway.. To come back to the point of those examples:

You are welcome to your view:

> I don't know that there is anyone here that thinks interleaved posting is
> the norm among the majority of email users. Nor is anyone saying that
> Usenet posters make up a majority of internet users. What we are saying
> is that *interleaved posting is objectively better* for most forms of
> email or news communication (although it is not a panacea), and
> especially for *technical discussions* like those that occur here.

All those examples were adduced only to say that like matters of dress and 
matters of God-belief are not absolute standards in any frame, in any sense,
so also mail etiquette.