Merge pull request #179 from teodorlu/explanations-are-value-laden

Explanations are value laden

Author: timothypratley

src/civitas/why/explanations_are_value_laden.clj

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+^{:kindly/hide-code true
+  :clay {:title "Explanations are value laden" :quarto {:author :com.github/teodorlu :type :post :date "2025-11-15"}}}
+(ns civitas.why.explanations-are-value-laden
+  (:require [civitas.why.growing-explanations-together :as-alias growing-explanations-together]
+            [civitas.why.village.scene :as-alias search-for-meaning]
+            [clojure.string :as str]
+            [scicloj.kindly.v4.kind :as kind]))
+
+::search-for-meaning/anchor
+::growing-explanations-together/anchor
+
+^:kindly/hide-code
+(defonce link-root "")
+
+^:kindly/hide-code
+(defn infer-html-location [anchor]
+  ;; I found this way of doing "checked" links surprisingly pleasant.
+  ;; Funnily enough, the *name* of the anchor (which we currently ignore) could (possibly) turn into a hash-link, eg "/civitas/.../scene#process" for ::search-for-meaning/process
+  ;; But let's not be distracted by shiny, new ways of linking knowledge right now.
+  ;;
+  ;; Second problem: while this link works in production, Clay doesn't care about those URLs.
+  ;; So we'll just redef the def from our REPL while writing this text.
+  (str link-root
+       (str/join
+        "/"
+        (->> (str/split (namespace anchor) #"\.")
+             (map #(str/replace % #"-" "_"))))
+       ".html"))
+
+^:kindly/hide-code
+(comment
+  ;; "test".
+  (def link-root "https://clojurecivitas.github.io/")
+  (infer-html-location ::search-for-meaning/anchor)
+
+  (require '[clojure.java.browse :refer [browse-url]])
+  (mapv (comp browse-url infer-html-location)
+        [::search-for-meaning/anchor ::growing-explanations-together/anchor])
+
+  )
+
+^:kindly/hide-code
+(defn link [anchor linktext]
+  [:a {:href (infer-html-location anchor)} linktext])
+
+;; # Explanations are value laden
+
+^:kindly/hide-code
+(kind/hiccup [:p "Timothy Pratley recently wrote about "
+              (link ::search-for-meaning/anchor
+                    [:span "the pursuit of " [:em "meaning"]])
+              " on civitas."
+              " Before that; I argued that "
+              (link ::growing-explanations-together/anchor
+                    "Civitas is a great place to grow explanations together")
+              "."
+              ])
+
+;; These two messages are connected.
+;; Today, I explore how.
+;;
+;; What is whorthwile to explain? Anything? No.
+;;
+;; I can explain the number of grains of sand on a beach.
+;; That explanation is *not interesting* compared to what I *could* be explaning.
+;; I would rather explain how numbers with units help you gain clarity.
+;; How you can use a drop of science to spice up your world of software development.
+;; How a sliver of programming can help you move the world as a designer.
+;;
+;; I feel zero need to explain how to “nudge” people into making decisions they do not want to make.
+;; I feel zero need to add more mess, chaos, advertisement and coercion into an already confusing and coercive world.
+;; Why am I bombarded with messaging to change my behavior every place I see?
+;; Why does this happen even when I use services I pay for?
+;; I dispise this trend.
+;;
+;; So what?
+;; Then what?
+;; What should we do instead?
+;;
+;; Just as the will to explain comes from your values, you can value great explanations.
+;; Instead of consuming coercive messaging, consider exploring.
+;; Later, share the bits and pieces you discovered.
+;; What was your journey?
+;; Can you explain what you discovered?
+;;
+;; I spoke to a friend about great explanations last weekend.
+;; “We need to explain together!”, I said.
+;; “That is what it means to be human!”
+;; “What about art?”, he said.
+;; “That's a very good question”.
+;;
+;; After a brief detour into “art as digestion”, we returned to explanations.
+;; Science is the pursuit of better explanations.
+;;
+;; “But science is scary!”, he retorted at once.
+;;
+;; No!
+;; Let us not fear science.
+;; Let us respect science and respect great scientists.
+;; But let us forever not fear science.
+;; We explain to each other all the time.
+;; And those explanations will help others.
+;; They will help ourselves.
+;;
+;; I value great explanations.
+;; I value the pursuit of great explanations.
+;; And I find it worthwhile to pursue great explanations with others.
+;;
+;; I may grasp something in a brief moment.
+;; By turning that understanding into an explanation, the understanding can outlive the moment.
+;; Knowing I can return to that understanding, I can move on.