In Defense of Punch Bug. Or, Against Social Ownership of the… | by Duncan A Sabien | Medium

Heads up: this one is nearly 14000 words; it’s more of a sequence of mini essays than a single straightforward point. I think every one of those 14000 words is important, but if you’re the kind of person who finds it hard to draw value out of a piece that long, consider reading just one or two parts and coming back for more later? Part 0: Preamble Part 1: Background models Part 2: Vignettes Part 3: Micro Part 4: Reification and ramifications Part 5: In which I attempt to summarize a strategy I don’t personally endorse, and then complain about it Part 6: Punch bug as rallying cry Punch bug (or “slug bug”) is a game frequently played in elementary and middle schools in America and elsewhere (in Britain people play a similar game called “yellow car”). There’s some regional variation in rulesets, but at its core the game is simple: if you see a Volkswagen beetle, you get to punch the person next to you, and they can’t punch you back. I’ve played this game nonstop since grade school. I’m cu

Heads up: this one is nearly 14000 words; it’s more of a sequence of mini essays than a single straightforward point. I think every one of those 14000 words is important, but if you’re the kind of person who finds it hard to draw value out of a piece that long, consider reading just one or two parts and coming back for more later? Part 0: Preamble Part 1: Background models Part 2: Vignettes Part 3: Micro Part 4: Reification and ramifications Part 5: In which I attempt to summarize a strategy I don’t personally endorse, and then complain about it Part 6: Punch bug as rallying cry Punch bug (or