[smitherfield]

Now, I'm as much of a fan of elaborate, essay-length metaphors as the next guy, but I have to say that I do find it a bit tiresome when the author declines to inform the reader what exactly the metaphor is in reference to.

[mirimir]

The author explains that in http://meaningness.com/meaningness-history which is poorly flagged. Examples: hippy, death metal, Twitter, etc.

Edit: http://meaningness.com/modes-chart is also worth pondering.

[smitherfield]

Thanks!

I'm still not such a huge fan of the post given the lack of concrete examples. The whole "the author's opinions about what people do" genre can often be a bunch of non-falsifiable platitudes and generalizations that ultimately don't end up meaning much. Think about one of those dime-a-dozen blog posts about how those who succeed in business project confidence, listen to the client's needs, and have a great pitch that hooks people within seconds.

Okay, well enough. But that doesn't actually even mean anything. Instead of just having some boilerplate word salad, how about some examples? Provide actual examples of strategies real people actually used to project confidence in real life, real ways people listened to the clients needs, and real-life great pitches that hooked people in seconds. That way the blog post becomes interesting and useful to me, the reader. And without them "the author's opinions about what people do" is basically the sibling of the horoscope.

[mirimir]

It is a rather abstract and nebulous article. Put more positively, it encourages introspection and contemplation. In any case, "geeks who are slightly evil" seems appropriate here :)

[paulpauper]

It's vague to encourage discussion , contemplation