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sb057today at 12:13 AM1 replyview on HN

I mean, the name of that whale is now Teresa T. You gave it that name.


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latexrtoday at 10:15 AM

And your name is now Berningular Farshthruster III. I gave you that name.

Which is, of course, silly. It is a name for you, just like Teresa T is a name for the whale, but it’s not your/their name, just like the RRS Sir David Attenborough is not named Boaty McBoatface (to the chagrin of most). Simon does not have the authority to unilaterally¹ name the whale (which is why the exercise makes sense).

¹ Important point. If the name started being recognised and used by consensus of those with the purview to do so (much like the thagomizer²), then Simon would have named the whale, but it would only become its name at that point.

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer

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