Country Dictionary

A fork of Rural Dictionary

Brandolini's Law

The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.
Also known as the Bullshit Asymmetry Principle.
Coined in 2013 by Alberto Brandolini, an Italian programmer.
Related to the quote attributed to Noam Chomsky, "It takes a minute to tell a lie, and an hour to refute it."

Trolls rely on Brandolini's Law to tie up well-meaning people in time-consuming debunking, with a minimum of effort on their own part.

by WhatwasIsaying December 24, 2024

MIMS

Make it make sense

Voters were concerned about inflation so they voted for the party that blocked anti-price-gouging legislation, went to Saudi Arabia to reduce oil supply to protect oil company profits, were in the White House at the start of the last recession, and added to the national debt for the sake of stock buybacks. MIMS

by WhatwasIsaying January 04, 2025

Turing's Lemma

As AI improves, fewer people will be able to demonstrate by virtue of their intelligence that they are not computers.

As AI becomes better at diagnosing than doctors, Turing's Lemma applies. Customer service is a profession in which Turing's Lemma does not yet apply, unfortunately.

by WhatwasIsaying February 06, 2025

poisoned postcard

Mail sent to an address by the government to ask for confirmation that the resident still lives there; if the resident does not respond, e.g., because s/he mistakes it for junk mail, the state uses non-response as its excuse to purge the voter from its rolls
The (in)accuracy of non-response to assess residency can be corroborated by comparing purged name-address pairs with recent USPS and Amazon shipments.

I never returned that poisoned postcard, which explains why I had to fill out a provisional ballot. I wonder if it was counted.

by WhatwasIsaying February 15, 2025

lesbians who floss

lesbians who go down on each other despite being unshaven

"And then lesbians...these are the 1960s-style lesbians, which you may or may not be familiar with. They differ a little bit from the modern versions in that they never had to buy dental floss." ~ a review of Argentinian sexploitation horror film "The Curious Dr. Humpp"

Not only do lesbians who floss save on dental floss. They also save on shaving cream.

by WhatwasIsaying January 28, 2025

HWISTK

How was I supposed to know?

"HWISTK they were Russian?" ~ Tim Poole

by WhatwasIsaying February 27, 2025

Winston’s Law

Success in life depends largely on your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas, in that order.

A somewhat depressing observation that the best ideas don’t necessarily win out in the end, but depend on salesmanship, including thinking on one’s feet and a compelling in-person presentation.

Source: Prof. Patrick Winston

Winston’s Law dictates that, although you may not be in Sales, you are anyway.

by WhatwasIsaying January 25, 2025