#blues cw

[blackoutlandish]

"And, incidentally, this also proves that anyone can learn to do any job." -I feel like if you're trying to prove that, you'd want to use the selector for a more complicated job, that depends on actual skill, work ethic, and thought. like. any other caste would be a better example. blues if they do not go out of their way to be stupid can coast on blueness.

Within castes, how hard a job is correlates with how well it pays. Blues are the richest caste, as evidenced by the fact that they have the highest credit prices; it follows that if any caste requires ~eugenics~ to be ~good enough~ then it’d be them.

[3cool-5u]

How loud do things have to get before they start arresting /blues/ for /noise complaints/??

they did not ARREST them for the noise complaint

apparently the answer to ‘how loud do things have to get before they call the cops on blues for a noise complaint’ is ‘six hours of screaming in a blue area so it’s blues calling and then when they send the apartment security to ask nicely dad manages to get them involved in the argument’

the arresting part happened bc when the real cops showed up mom flopped on the floor and went FASCIST PIGS I AM A PRACTITIONER OF SATYAGRAHA YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE

[3cool-5u]

[blackoutlandish]

it's probably just interacting-with-blues? I'm pretty sure except in weird countries that have their greens be mini-blues, most people's feelings about interacting with greens in most circumstances are more along the lines of eye-rolling and bewildered irritation than dread? you aren't *scary* just often *really* weird, just for the sake of weird? like, blues sometimes get mad and threatening if you screw up their order, greens don't *notice* but maybe try to pay with critter-carrier gems?

That’s good to know, and reassuring. Thanks.

(My co-spouse says he once saw someone leave a Towel Hero rare with the tip, but the waiter was a fan of the game who’d mentioned he was looking for that particular artifact.)

[blackoutlandish]

...*lightbulb goes on*

that knot of dread in the pit of my stomach when i imagine interacting with blues irl

is that how nongrues feel about me?

that is, is it an “interacting with someone from a higher caste” thing rather than an “interacting with a blue” thing

because i didn’t think it was possible for the caste system to be even worse than i already thought it was, but scrubbing fuck that’s yikes

[blackoutlandish]

Even if caste aptitudes aren't hereditary they're clearly coming from somewhere, else greens wouldn't be so much smarter than everyone else, and reds definitely aren't being socialized the same way blues are.

Are greens smarter? Certainly the jobs that greens are allowed to do tend to reward putting more effort into using (certain kinds of) intelligence, but that’s not the same thing as an inherent aptitude. And, because of that very smart-greens stereotype, our definition of “intelligence” – and therefore the nature of the tests we use to measure it – is heavily influenced by the skills demanded by green jobs and encouraged by green culture.

You may have a point about socialization, but what is learned may be unlearned, and one’s upbringing is not the final word on one’s entire life. People can change.

[blackoutlandish]

A while ago you said that if we ended up with fewer than 30000 Anitami blue ex-reds, it proved no one involved really believed that reds were as capable as other people of doing non-red work. Specifically, you said that this had to be the case because caste aptitudes aren't strongly heritable, so reds couldn't be competent people without being competent blues. What do you think now?

(Referring to this post. Content warnings on that link for denial of red personhood, nonperson pronouns for ex-reds, censoring “red” as a slur, anti-ex-red hate, and Tidal.)

First off, let’s be clear about what the test says:

if they’re recasteing honestly (i.e., based on aptitude alone), then we should end up with about 30,000 Anitami ex-red blues;

if we end up with much fewer than that, then Shasali Aven was a PR move.

Because caste aptitude isn’t heritable, there are about 30,000 ex-red Anitamis who should have been recasted as blue. Since the actual number is closer to 30, it follows that recasteing is based on something other than aptitude. The most obvious explanation is that the people in power, who are presumably mostly blue, want to keep ex-reds out of their caste. If decisions about whether to allow ex-red blues are made based on personal/political motives rather than on aptitude, then it seems likely that the exceptions to their resistance were political likewise.

However, there may also be a factor of individual choice. As I understand it, ex-reds are allowed a degree of choice in regards to their new caste, and the effects of this are visible in e.g. the low number of ex-red greys. It’s possible that ex-reds are choosing to avoid recasteing as blue, perhaps because blue credits are very expensive and blue incomes are mostly based on established portfolios.

In either case, Anitam is being deprived of competent and qualified blues, whether through their own untheological prejudice or through the intrinsic ugliness of the caste system.

[3cool-5u]