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Japanese monks and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years. They accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset (cdn.bsky.app)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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[–] 48 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I agree it seems a strange choice of words.

Japanese monks and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years. They accidentally In doing so they built the world's longest climate dataset

Something like that seems more straightforward.

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  • [–] 36 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    I think “inadvertently” fits in that it isn’t what they were intending to do.

    “Accidentally” feels sorta judgy.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    I think a journalist might choose the word 'unintentionally'; inadvertently is a bit clunky, it lacks a bit of music, and it gives me a sense of slapstick comedy. This sentence, for instance, "Having inadvertently caused the death of her son," sounds to me like the son died as a result of some Pink Panther bit.

    I don't think 'accidentally' here needs to feel judgy per se, but it is hard to imagine an English major choosing it.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah I like “unintentionally” better as well.

    Why do I feel like we are making AI better by having this conversation?

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