Here’s an idea for Indigo scripting - instead of creating a profusion of variables, why not store bundled related data as a JSON string inside of a single variable? For example, today I was working on a state machine for garage door automation. While I could have used multiple variables, it made better sense to stuff all the related state data in GDO_STATUS e.g.

{
  "version": 1,
  "doors": {
    "LEFT": {
      "phase": "idle",
      "original": "open",
      "expected": "closed",
      "movement_seen": true,
      "started_at": 1788969098.0042272,
      "deadline": 1788969128.0042272,
      "next_check_at": 1788969115.1878028,
      "finished_at": 1788969114.1878028,
      "result": "closed"
    }
  }
}

When U.S. Republicans talk about “six genders,” do they really mean “cis-gendered”? Are they really that stupid? Rhetorical question.

I asked ChatGPT to write a plot summary of a Star Trek episode about six genders. Here’s part of it:

Star Trek: “The Sixfold World”

The Enterprise discovers Ilyrra, a planet whose civilization is organized around six genders collectively known as the velarium. Each gender is understood not as a fixed personality or occupation, but as a distinct way of participating in kinship, reproduction, and communal life.

The six genders are:

• Veyra — initiators, who contribute the reproductive “spark.”
• Orren — shapers, whose bodies recombine inherited traits.
• Thalen — bearers, who gestate the developing child.
• Myrri — symbiotes, who provide essential microorganisms that form the child’s immune system.
• Caelith — bondkeepers, who chemically and emotionally attune the prospective parents.
• Sovae — namegivers, who do not contribute biologically but formally welcome the child into society and assume lifelong responsibility for their education.

Creating a child, called sixweaving, requires biological contributions from the first four genders. A Caelith stabilizes the process through a ritual known as heartbinding, while a Sovae completes it socially by naming the newborn. One person may fulfill only one role in a particular sixweaving, but need not remain in that role throughout life.

Sounds fascinating!