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The "Jante Law" of Office Work


1.  Do not believe you are anything special.
2.  Do not believe you are as good as your computer.
3.  Do not believe you are wiser than your computer.
4.  Do not fancy yourself better than your computer.
5.  Do not believe you know more than your computer.
6.  Do not believe you are greater than your computer.
7.  Do not believe you amount to anything.
8.  Do not laugh at your computer.
9.  Do not believe that your computer is concerned with you.
10. Do not believe you can teach your computer anything.

The original Jantelov

The original "Jante Law" was coined by the Danish author Aksel Sandemose in a novel describing the life in Jante, a small Norwegian town. You can find the law described here:

Janteloven
"Reverse Jante laws"
What is Janteloven?
What are the Danes like?


I do not have power and control over Mycomputer as I have over a tool. Mycomputer is not a tool. Mycomputer is a living creature, sometimes helpful, sometimes dangerous -- just as an elephant or a god can be helpful or dangerous.

Mycomputer is busy doing something else. That is perfectly understandable, yes, yes. It cannot service me right now. Maybe the computer is fetching data via the network. Maybe it is waiting for the mainframe/server/host/other machine to ... finish. Sometimes it happens for instance when I press return, space bar, delete key, escape, "3" or "M" (shift-M), but I haven't really found any logic behind it. Maybe it is in contact with ... I have given up hope finding the logic behind.

Mycomputer is in control. Of me. Mycomputer decides when it's time for me to enter data. I cannot interrupt Mycomputer. I belong to Mycomputer. I must not interrupt ...

... Mycomputer.

Oh! Now it's ready. I received an interrupt. Another program finished doing whatever, and its window suddenly becomes the front window. I wonder how much was lost of the data I was entering in that other program. I understand that the computer has judged that it would be preferable that I attend to this immediately before I can get back to what I was doing. The computer knows best what I should be doing right now. The interrupt is a feature. It cannot be disabled.

I chant the mantra

Mycomputer.
Mycomputer.
Mycomputer.
Wholly shit.

Mike L. Griebel, mgriebel@hotmail.com
Griebel's Homepage
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