Something I wrote in the W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop’s Zoom chat:
Another implicit assumption (flaw) that is often a part of "purely technical solutions" is the neglect or ignorance (innocent naïveté) of existing technical solutions.
A technical proposal should not be praised for what it claims to solve.
A technical proposal must be evaluated by what marginal difference or advantage does it provide over existing technologies.
Any technical proposal that ignores prior technologies is itself doomed to be ignored by the next technical proposal.
In addition to the slide presentations (links to come) in the mini workshop and Zoom verbal discussion which was minuted (link to come), there was a lot of very interesting discussion in the Zoom chat, which was not minuted. Sometimes such quick back & forth can help inspire summarizing of points which one had not previously written down.
I was encouraged by a fellow workshop participant to blog this one so here it is!
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"text": "Something I wrote in the W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop\u2019s Zoom chat:\n\n\nAnother implicit assumption (flaw) that is often a part of \"purely technical solutions\" is the neglect or ignorance (innocent na\u00efvet\u00e9) of existing technical solutions.\n\nA technical proposal should not be praised for what it claims to solve.\n\nA technical proposal must be evaluated by what marginal difference or advantage does it provide over existing technologies.\n\nAny technical proposal that ignores prior technologies is itself doomed to be ignored by the next technical proposal.\n\n\nIn addition to the slide presentations (links to come) in the mini workshop and Zoom verbal discussion which was minuted (link to come), there was a lot of very interesting discussion in the Zoom chat, which was not minuted. Sometimes such quick back & forth can help inspire summarizing of points which one had not previously written down. \n\nI was encouraged by a fellow workshop participant to blog this one so here it is!\n\n#W3C #credweb #credibleWeb #authenticWeb #technology #technical #proposal #technicalProposal #history",
"html": "Something I wrote in the W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop\u2019s Zoom chat:<br /><br /><br />Another implicit assumption (flaw) that is often a part of \"purely technical solutions\" is the neglect or ignorance (innocent na\u00efvet\u00e9) of existing technical solutions.<br /><br />A technical proposal should not be praised for what it claims to solve.<br /><br />A technical proposal must be evaluated by what marginal difference or advantage does it provide over existing technologies.<br /><br />Any technical proposal that ignores prior technologies is itself doomed to be ignored by the next technical proposal.<br /><br /><br />In addition to the slide presentations (links to come) in the mini workshop and Zoom verbal discussion which was minuted (link to come), there was a lot of very interesting discussion in the Zoom chat, which was not minuted. Sometimes such quick back & forth can help inspire summarizing of points which one had not previously written down. <br /><br />I was encouraged by a fellow workshop participant to blog this one so here it is!<br /><br />#<span class=\"p-category\">W3C</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credweb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credibleWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">authenticWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">technology</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">technical</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">proposal</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">technicalProposal</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">history</span>"
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I just participated in the first W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop¹ hosted by the Credible Web Community Group² (of which I’m a longtime member) and up front I noted that our very discussion itself needed to be careful about its own credibility, extra critical of any technologies discussed or assertions made, and initially identified two flaws to avoid on a meta level, having seen them occur many times in technical or standards discussions:
1. Politician’s Syllogism — "Something must be done about this problem. Here is something, let's do it!"
2. Solutions Looking For Problems — "I am interested in how tech X can solve problem Y"
After some back and forth and arguments in the Zoom chat, I observed participants questioning speakers of arguments rather than the arguments themselves, so I had to identify a third fallacy to avoid:
3. Ad Hominem — while obvious examples are name-calling (which is usually against codes of conduct), less obvious examples (witnessed in the meeting) include questioning a speaker’s education (or lack thereof) like what they have or have not read, or would benefit from reading.
I am blogging these here both as a reminder (should you choose to participate in such discussions), and as a resource to cite in future discussions.
We need to all develop expertise in recognizing these logical and methodological flaws & fallacies, and call them out when we see them, especially when used against others.
We need to promptly prune these flawed methods of discussion, so we can focus on actual productive, relevant, and yes, credible discussions.
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"text": "I just participated in the first W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop\u00b9 hosted by the Credible Web Community Group\u00b2 (of which I\u2019m a longtime member) and up front I noted that our very discussion itself needed to be careful about its own credibility, extra critical of any technologies discussed or assertions made, and initially identified two flaws to avoid on a meta level, having seen them occur many times in technical or standards discussions:\n\n1. Politician\u2019s Syllogism \u2014 \"Something must be done about this problem. Here is something, let's do it!\"\n\n2. Solutions Looking For Problems \u2014 \"I am interested in how tech X can solve problem Y\"\n\nAfter some back and forth and arguments in the Zoom chat, I observed participants questioning speakers of arguments rather than the arguments themselves, so I had to identify a third fallacy to avoid:\n\n3. Ad Hominem \u2014 while obvious examples are name-calling (which is usually against codes of conduct), less obvious examples (witnessed in the meeting) include questioning a speaker\u2019s education (or lack thereof) like what they have or have not read, or would benefit from reading.\n\nI am blogging these here both as a reminder (should you choose to participate in such discussions), and as a resource to cite in future discussions.\n\nWe need to all develop expertise in recognizing these logical and methodological flaws & fallacies, and call them out when we see them, especially when used against others. \n\nWe need to promptly prune these flawed methods of discussion, so we can focus on actual productive, relevant, and yes, credible discussions.\n\n#W3C #credweb #credibleWeb #authenticWeb #flaw #fallacy #fallacies #logicalFallacy #logicalFallacies\n\n\nGlossary\n\nAd Hominem\n\u00a0 attacking an attribute of the person making an argument rather than the argument itself\n\u00a0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem\n\nPolitician's syllogism\n\u00a0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism\n\nSolutions Looking For Problems (related: #solutionism, #solutioneering)\n\u00a0 Promoting a technology that either has not identified a real problem for it to solve, or actively pitching a specific technology to any problem that seems related. Wikipedia has no page on this but has two related pages: \n\u00a0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument\n\u00a0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_fix\n\u00a0 Wikipedia does have an essay on this specific to Wikipedia:\n\u00a0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Solutions_looking_for_a_problem\n\u00a0 Stack Exchange has a thread on \"solution in search of a problem\":\n\u00a0 * https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/250320/a-word-that-means-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem \n\u00a0 Forbes has an illustrative anecdote: \u00a0\n\u00a0 * https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2019/05/28/solution-looking-for-a-problem/\n\n\nReferences\n\n\u00b9 https://www.w3.org/events/workshops/2025/authentic-web-workshop/\n\u00b2 https://credweb.org/ and https://www.w3.org/community/credibility/\n\n\nPreviously in 2019 I participated @misinfocon.com #MisinfoCon: \n* https://tantek.com/2019/296/t1/london-misinfocon-discuss-spectrum-recency\n* https://tantek.com/2019/296/t2/misinfocon-roundtable-spectrums-misinformation",
"html": "I just participated in the first W3C Authentic Web Mini Workshop<a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_note-1\">\u00b9</a> hosted by the Credible Web Community Group<a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_note-2\">\u00b2</a> (of which I\u2019m a longtime member) and up front I noted that our very discussion itself needed to be careful about its own credibility, extra critical of any technologies discussed or assertions made, and initially identified two flaws to avoid on a meta level, having seen them occur many times in technical or standards discussions:<br /><br />1. Politician\u2019s Syllogism \u2014 \"Something must be done about this problem. Here is something, let's do it!\"<br /><br />2. Solutions Looking For Problems \u2014 \"I am interested in how tech X can solve problem Y\"<br /><br />After some back and forth and arguments in the Zoom chat, I observed participants questioning speakers of arguments rather than the arguments themselves, so I had to identify a third fallacy to avoid:<br /><br />3. Ad Hominem \u2014 while obvious examples are name-calling (which is usually against codes of conduct), less obvious examples (witnessed in the meeting) include questioning a speaker\u2019s education (or lack thereof) like what they have or have not read, or would benefit from reading.<br /><br />I am blogging these here both as a reminder (should you choose to participate in such discussions), and as a resource to cite in future discussions.<br /><br />We need to all develop expertise in recognizing these logical and methodological flaws & fallacies, and call them out when we see them, especially when used against others. <br /><br />We need to promptly prune these flawed methods of discussion, so we can focus on actual productive, relevant, and yes, credible discussions.<br /><br />#<span class=\"p-category\">W3C</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credweb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">credibleWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">authenticWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">flaw</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">fallacy</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">fallacies</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">logicalFallacy</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">logicalFallacies</span><br /><br /><br />Glossary<br /><br />Ad Hominem<br />\u00a0 attacking an attribute of the person making an argument rather than the argument itself<br />\u00a0 <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem</a><br /><br />Politician's syllogism<br />\u00a0 <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism</a><br /><br />Solutions Looking For Problems (related: #<span class=\"p-category\">solutionism</span>, #<span class=\"p-category\">solutioneering</span>)<br />\u00a0 Promoting a technology that either has not identified a real problem for it to solve, or actively pitching a specific technology to any problem that seems related. Wikipedia has no page on this but has two related pages: <br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument</a><br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_fix\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_fix</a><br />\u00a0 Wikipedia does have an essay on this specific to Wikipedia:<br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Solutions_looking_for_a_problem\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Solutions_looking_for_a_problem</a><br />\u00a0 Stack Exchange has a thread on \"solution in search of a problem\":<br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/250320/a-word-that-means-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem\">https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/250320/a-word-that-means-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem</a> <br />\u00a0 Forbes has an illustrative anecdote: \u00a0<br />\u00a0 * <a href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2019/05/28/solution-looking-for-a-problem/\">https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanieburns/2019/05/28/solution-looking-for-a-problem/</a><br /><br /><br />References<br /><br /><a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_ref-1\">\u00b9</a> <a href=\"https://www.w3.org/events/workshops/2025/authentic-web-workshop/\">https://www.w3.org/events/workshops/2025/authentic-web-workshop/</a><br /><a href=\"https://tantek.com/#t5az1_ref-2\">\u00b2</a> <a href=\"https://credweb.org/\">https://credweb.org/</a> and <a href=\"https://www.w3.org/community/credibility/\">https://www.w3.org/community/credibility/</a><br /><br /><br />Previously in 2019 I participated <a href=\"https://misinfocon.com\">@misinfocon.com</a> #<span class=\"p-category\">MisinfoCon:</span> <br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2019/296/t1/london-misinfocon-discuss-spectrum-recency\">https://tantek.com/2019/296/t1/london-misinfocon-discuss-spectrum-recency</a><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2019/296/t2/misinfocon-roundtable-spectrums-misinformation\">https://tantek.com/2019/296/t2/misinfocon-roundtable-spectrums-misinformation</a>"
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"html": "<p>This tool indexes the full text of all published Fediverse Enhancement Proposals, and then lets you search that text. (<a href=\"https://fep-search.glitch.me/\">full item here</a>)</p>",
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"html": "<blockquote>\n <h2><a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/articles/start-living-your-life-and-not-somebody-elses\"></a></h2>\n\n <p>Now I haven\u2019t been on planet Earth all that long but I have learned a few things along the way. I\u2019ve observed there are a couple of key ingredients that successful individuals seem to have mastered:</p>\n\n<p><strong>1.</strong> Learn to develop extremely focused and valuable instincts for what you want to achieve in life and how to achieve it.<br /><strong>2.</strong> Trust your instincts.</p>\n\n<p>Recently I spent some serious time reviewing the last 10 years of my life, and I noticed a pattern. Every time things seemed to go sideways and my plans took months (or years) to get back on track, it was because, essentially, <strong>I lost the nerve to go after my dreams.</strong></p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I was having fun over on <a href=\"https://theinternet.review/2025/03/10/my-rah-rah-of-web-2.0-aged-poorly/\">The Internet Review</a> linking to myself from 20 years ago, and then I thought why let that site have all the fun? \ud83d\ude02 So here\u2019s me from 10 years ago\u2026and honestly, I agree with me! It\u2019s only proven to be <em>more true</em> now that I\u2019m a decade older\u2026and blame my more recent forays into <strong>Taoism</strong> if you want to understand just how much stock I put into letting \u201cflow states\u201d dictate my focus and my decision-making on a daily basis.</p>\n\n<p>Now that might sound like a contradiction in terms\u2014let life unfold vs. chase after your dreams, but the way I look at it is my dreams are what my heart knows to be true about who I am and <em>why</em> I am\u2014yet there\u2019s that constant pressure to logic your way out of those crazy ideas into other plans which are \u201csensible\u201d. <em>Nope to that!</em> <strong>You can\u2019t logic your way to happiness.</strong> It just doesn\u2019t work like that.</p>\n\n<p>\u201cIf anyone wants to take the world and directs it at his will, I do not see how he can succeed.<br />The world is a sacred vessel, which cannot be directed at one\u2019s will.<br />To direct it is to fail.<br />To grasp it is to lose it.<br />Some things go ahead, some follow, some breathe slowly, some breathe fast,<br />some are strong, some are weak, some grow in strength, some decay.<br />Therefore, the sage avoids \u2018very\u2019, \u2018too\u2019 and \u2018extreme\u2019.\u201d<br />\u2013<em>Tao Te Ching, <a href=\"https://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz29.htm\">Chapter 29</a></em></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/mindfulness\">#mindfulness</a> <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/spirituality\">#spirituality</a></p>",
"text": "Now I haven\u2019t been on planet Earth all that long but I have learned a few things along the way. I\u2019ve observed there are a couple of key ingredients that successful individuals seem to have mastered:\n\n1. Learn to develop extremely focused and valuable instincts for what you want to achieve in life and how to achieve it.\n2. Trust your instincts.\n\nRecently I spent some serious time reviewing the last 10 years of my life, and I noticed a pattern. Every time things seemed to go sideways and my plans took months (or years) to get back on track, it was because, essentially, I lost the nerve to go after my dreams.\n\n\n\nI was having fun over on The Internet Review linking to myself from 20 years ago, and then I thought why let that site have all the fun? \ud83d\ude02 So here\u2019s me from 10 years ago\u2026and honestly, I agree with me! It\u2019s only proven to be more true now that I\u2019m a decade older\u2026and blame my more recent forays into Taoism if you want to understand just how much stock I put into letting \u201cflow states\u201d dictate my focus and my decision-making on a daily basis.\n\nNow that might sound like a contradiction in terms\u2014let life unfold vs. chase after your dreams, but the way I look at it is my dreams are what my heart knows to be true about who I am and why I am\u2014yet there\u2019s that constant pressure to logic your way out of those crazy ideas into other plans which are \u201csensible\u201d. Nope to that! You can\u2019t logic your way to happiness. It just doesn\u2019t work like that.\n\n\u201cIf anyone wants to take the world and directs it at his will, I do not see how he can succeed.\nThe world is a sacred vessel, which cannot be directed at one\u2019s will.\nTo direct it is to fail.\nTo grasp it is to lose it.\nSome things go ahead, some follow, some breathe slowly, some breathe fast,\nsome are strong, some are weak, some grow in strength, some decay.\nTherefore, the sage avoids \u2018very\u2019, \u2018too\u2019 and \u2018extreme\u2019.\u201d\n\u2013Tao Te Ching, Chapter 29\n\n#mindfulness #spirituality"
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