More than fifty surprising things that I believe
May
2009
- Affirmative action is counter-productive.
- So is the minimum wage.
- And minimum standards of education.
- Technology is uninteresting.
- Well over 90% of science fiction is crap.
- Checked exceptions are stupid.
- I am afraid that pubic hair will go the way of under-arm hair.
- C# is better than Java.
- There is not enough testing in schools.
- Tipping is deeply uncivilized.
- Charities should be taxed.
- Valentine’s Day is silly.
- The minimum drinking age should be abolished.
- I subscribe to over a dozen conservative blogs but no liberal blogs.
- It’s OK for children to see naked bodies.
- Different races probably have different abilities.
- Ditto for sexes.
- Christianity is a good thing.
- Catching Exception is OK.
- Thanking your wife when you receive your Oscar or Nobel Prize is unnecessary.
- Star Wars was not very good.
- Education, health care, civil liberties etc etc etc should be left to the states.
- I’d rather time travel to the past than to the future.
- It doesn’t matter that there are so few women in the software industry.
- Attempts to design a balanced curriculum are harmful.
- I don’t find babies to be cute.
- There is nothing wrong with public fields.
- I deeply resent the secularization of Christmas.
- There should be no tax deductions.
- Especially not for charities.
- I find the Pledge of Allegiance disturbing.
- I don’t see the point of cats.
- America is in my top five countries.
- So is France.
- If you want a successful life, nurture helps but not as much as nature.
- Or luck.
- Roe versus Wade was wrongly decided.
- I love reading bible stories and singing Christmas carols.
- Open source software terrifies and confuses me.
- The federal government should receive funding from the states, not individuals.
- Extreme Programming Explained changed my life.
- For the worse.
- The initiative process and referendums in general are populist nonsense.
- So are term limits.
- The mis-perception that chimpanzees are monkeys bothers the hell out of me.
- As does the inappropriate pluralization of offside.
- And the incorrect use of momentarily.
- Downloading music/movies/games is stealing.
- Most people would be better off if they did not go to college.
- Most would be better off starting work at 16.
- I am ambivalent about gay marriage.
- All income (salary, profits, dividends, inheritance etc) should be taxed equally.
- Schools should be ‘streamed’ by academic ability.
- Military service deserves no more honour than teaching, nursing, road-sweeping or a host of other professions.
- The ability to spell is not that important.
- Bad spelling infuriates me. Especially when I do it.
- The Star Spangled Banner is my second favourite anthem.
Seven things about my more than fifty surprising things
- Details available on request.
- This post was inspired by a question on StackOverflow – what’s your most controversial programming opinion – but the first 20-something answers are positively mainstream. I thought I could do better.
- If you know me well, you will be unsurprised by many of my surprising things.
- If you don’t know me well, you will be unsurprised by many of my surprising things.
- If you don’t know me at all, some of my surprising things might make you angry.
- I tried to avoid obvious – or simply minority – things.
- I censored some of my things out of cowardice.
It’s traditional when you make a list like this to tag 14 of your friends and they have to repeat the exercise. I find that tradition to be crass. If you made it this far, consider yourself tagged. Or not. Whatever.