The physicists who convinced Fermilab to send Brazil's emails (buttondown.com)
37 points by maguay 4 days ago
warumdarum 4 hours ago
Its actually inherited from portugese and spanish culture, where protestant puntuality is sort of viewd as a "slave" or servant mentality (which in protestant culture where "you" are equal with all before god is just not a thing). A nobleman is the lord of his own time and sets his own appointment, can be found in all spanish colonies and in the morher countries.
teruakohatu 2 hours ago
> protestant culture where "you" are equal with all
Can you explain this concept?
If I was in Brazil and invited to a bbq at 8pm, how would the host respond if I asked “so what time do you actually want me to arrive”?
brabel 2 hours ago
You can go on time if you want to help out preparing the party. If you ask what time the party really starts, they will probably tell you 30 minutes to an hour after the official time, which is how long they expect to spend getting things ready. Some people come 2 hours late because they want to arrive when the party is already “hot”. The early hours tend to be “boring” as everyone is just arriving slowly, helping put food on the table and cooling the drinks, no one is drunk yet and so on. After 2 hours it’s the fun part. Hope that helps should you find yourself being invited by Brazilians , in Brazil or elsewhere.
hiddencost 11 minutes ago
MichaelZuo 2 hours ago
How does this work in the Brazilian military?
I can’t imagine they show up whenever they wish.
brabel 2 hours ago
No. Work in general requires punctuality unless you’re boss, of course.
jeffbee 4 hours ago
Too bad California fell on the wrong side of this divide.
warumdarum 3 hours ago
Why, no california is a two layer culture now, the labourers catholic , the upper crust protestant ?
ezbie 3 hours ago
Gosh, what a badly written article, despite the theme being interesting
zephen 3 hours ago
"In the end, all it took to break the impasse was a few copper wires, laid across the Gulf of Mexico to a high-energy physics lab just outside of Chicago, in 1991."
Make it make sense. Either in how Chicago is close to the Gulf, Brazil is on the Gulf, or in 1991 having a working wire thousands of miles long qualifies as a throwaway "all it took."
kingofmen an hour ago
Deliberate understatement is sometimes deployed for humorous intent.
zephen 16 minutes ago
lgcmo 4 hours ago
Also worth noting that Brazil was under a dictatorship at the time
ck2 4 hours ago
ha FidoNet, wow that takes me back, world has changed SO much