[jerf]

The problem you have is that by defining a "FUN" standard, you've probably created a basin of attraction [1] for what is basically the web today. It doesn't take much before you've basically let the ocean in.

There are clearly many points between Gopher/Gemini and the modern web... but I'm not sure any of them are stable. Between the difficulty of keeping out features in a principled manner in what will inevitably become a group effort and how easy it is to accidentally spec something that turns out to be a lot more complicated than you thought it was, you're pretty much working in a space where the Horrors of the Web are lurking just outside your door, and you'd be surprised which missteps will let them in.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractor

[radiator]

This is very deep. I like this mathematical explanation of why we get either Gemini, which nobody uses, or the modern web.

[jerf]

When people say math doesn't matter and is useless, I see it as rather akin to standing in Adam Savage's workshop and wondering why he has collected so much useless stuff and proudly declaring their inability to understand or utilize the contents.

As a bonus, here's another IMHO highly underrated gem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coevolution Not only are there characteristic patterns intrinsic to evolution (in all its forms, far beyond just biology), there are characteristic patterns to interacting evolving systems. And that's, like, basically everything in the world. Super useful tool.