#occasionaletymology

dredmorbius@diaspora.glasswings.com

A Nimrod is a great hunter

Nimrod
"great hunter," 1712, a reference to the biblical son of Cush, referred to (Genesis x.8-9) as "a mighty hunter before the Lord." In Middle English he was Nembrot (mid-13c.), founder of cities and builder of the tower of Babel (though Genesis does not name him as such). In 16c.-17c. his name was synonymous with "a tyrant." The word came to mean "geek, klutz" by 1983 in teenager slang, for unknown reasons. (Amateur theories include its occasional use in "Bugs Bunny" cartoon episodes featuring rabbit-hunting Elmer Fudd as a foil; its alleged ironic use, among hunters, for a clumsy member of their fraternity; or a stereotype of deer hunters by the non-hunting population in the U.S.)

https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nimrod

#OccasionalEtymology

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

There's a whole long discussion to be had on the purpose of education, and it goes back a long ways

TL;DR: skills vs. reasoning.

For oligarchs, especially of public education, it is a skills-manufacturing pipeline for producing an efficient but docile wage-slave workforce.

For themselves, they reserve critical thinking, un-bowdlerized. Yes, an eponym.

As Brother Mouzone said in The Wire: "You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, right? N-----r with a library card."

https://invidio.us/watch?v=bRCyZydgqdc

It's the liberal arts vs. the servile arts. "Liberal" because they are liberating, essential to freepersons. It's the undercurrent of virtually all education reform

And this goes back a ways. Hardly the first, but: On the role of Universities and Primary Education as Social Indoctrination: John Stuart Mill via Hans Jensen, from the 1860s.

#education #LiberalArts #SevileArts #ArtsMechanicae #bowdlerize #occasionalEtymology #skills #reasoning #TheWire

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

A Hierarchy is the Order of Angels

hierarchy (n.)\
late 14c., jerarchie, ierarchie, "rank in the sacred order; one of the three divisions of the nine orders of angels;" loosely, "rule, dominion," from Old French ierarchie (14c., Modern French hiérarchie), from Medieval Latin hierarchia "ranked division of angels" (in the system of Dionysius the Areopagite), from Greek hierarkhia "rule of a high priest," from hierarkhes "high priest, leader of sacred rites," from ta hiera "the sacred rites" (neuter plural of hieros "sacred;" see ire) + arkhein "to lead, rule" (see archon). Sense of "ranked organization of persons or things" first recorded 1610s, initially of clergy, sense probably influenced by higher.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/hierarchy

From a thread on whether networks and hierarchies are related or unrelated, concensus being related, despite Craig Wright's arguments otherwise in Glut.

#OccasionalEtymology #hierarchy #networks #til