[ExI] self driving cars

Mike Dougherty msd001 at gmail.com
Sat May 19 04:09:27 UTC 2012


On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 10:55 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>>... On Behalf Of Mike Dougherty
>>...Also, nobody else I know has the nerve to call 'em "proles"...
>
> 'em as in them?  It is us.  I is a prole too.  In these days of class
> warfare, being a member of the proletariat is a matter of pride.
> Furthermore, it is difficult to get away from the riff raff when one is riff
> raff oneself.

It seems the term predates Orwell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletariat

I think it's the commonly derogatory connotation that makes it
impolite.  That you view yourself a member of this oft-derided class
amuses me because you don't have a "lower class" signature to your
written expression.  It's also funny to me that we assign so much
importance to words then hold people accountable to our preconceived
rules for their use.  You could equally use the words for various
produce in place of class names much like you arbitrarily substitute
religious groups and it would have both comedic value and social
commentary.  So anyway, that's why I keep citing your particular
nuance for this term - because I agree we're either all proles or none
of us are proles according to context.

> Regarding your notion of rolling business meetings, such a thing could be a
> great way to have some privacy for the purposes of a secure meeting.

By the time this dream-world car is deployed for general consumption
the concept of privacy will be inexplicable as your petrol-guzzling V8
and whatever-the-hell a cassette was used for.

> That whole share-a-ride-with-a-stranger notion is DOA, a non-starter.
> Enabling rolling copulation in otherwise wasted time is a huge selling
> point.  One could imagine professionals who ride around town all day
> entertaining clientele, for instance.  Overhead expenses would be held down,
> low risk of being bothered by the local constabulary, fits well with a busy
> tech worker's schedule, etc.

Wait, are you talking about a mobile brothel?  So is this
share-a-ride, give-a-ride, or buy-a-ride with a stranger?  That was
the kind of professional you meant, right?  No? sorry.  :)




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