What "cult-like behavior" meant (was: Re: Glyphs and graphemes

[Marko Rauhamaa]

INADA Naoki <songofacandy at gmail.com>:

> On Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 4:57 PM Marko Rauhamaa <marko at pacujo.net> wrote:
>>
>> Python3 is not a cult. It's a programming language. What is cult-like is
>> the manner in which Python3's honor is defended in a good many of the
>> discussions in this newsgroup: anger, condescension, ridicule,
>> name-calling.
>
> OK, I understand now.
>
> But I think it's true for all popular programming languages, not only
> Python. And it's not only for programming languages. I can see many
> too-defensive people on Twitter. Honestly speaking, I'm too defensive
> sometimes, too.

You are absolutely right. That behavior is a (lamentable) hereditary
trait in our species and apparently serves an important evolutionary
function (or it would have disappeared).

> Anyway, I feel "Cult-like behavior" in mail subject was misleading
> when discussing about byte-transparent string vs unicode string.

Yeah, discussions meander a lot.

> Such powerful words may make people more defensive, and heat non
> productive discussion.

Thing is, you need to stand up to bullying. Maybe you are not seeing it,
but quite many people have become victims of it here while the bullies
thrive and lead the pack.

I can see that the bullying behavior comes from exasperation instead of
an outright meanness. They sincerely believe they understand the issues
better than their opponents and are at a loss to get the message across
without resorting to ad hominems.


Marko