When sizing up a stranger, the advice I’ve heard in the past was to observe how they treat service staff: waitstaff, flight attendendants, concierge, etc. This one seems equally appropriate to the internet age:
To rapidly reveal the true character of a person you just met observe them stuck on an abysmally slow internet connection.
— Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living
If this ain’t a useful frame of reference for our time, I don’t know what is:
Regard for power implies disregard for those without power as is demonstrated by what happened after Moses shifted the route of the Northern State Parkway away from Otto Kahn’s golf course. The map of the Northern State Parkway in Cold Spring Harbor is a map not only of a road but of power—and of what happens to those who, unwittingly, are caught in the path of power.
— Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker
The self-taught amateurs can be weird, or make unorthodox moves that the formally trained can’t see:
“I don’t think it’s very nice,” Angela complained. “I think it’s ugly, but I don’t know anything about modern art. Sometimes I wish Newt would take some lessons, so he could know for sure if he was doing something or not.” “Self-taught, are you?” Julian Castle asked Newt. “Isn’t everybody?” Newt inquired. “Very good answer.” Castle was respectful.
— Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
Case in point: as I was using the revision mode in Ulysses to check this post, nine problems were identified. One misspelling, three incorrect hyphens (another sign o’ the times), and the rest were quibbles about syntax used in the quotes.
Let the experts cook, as it’s said of late.