Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-color-6] color-contrast() should take transparency into account (#7358)

@LeaVerou 

Thank you for your feedback, if you haven't noticed I actually _am_ using the `details/summary` tags more often lately in many of my messages, having recently found that they worked here on Github (many formatting-type tags I've tried are stripped here).

Though in the message above, I originally indicated the tangent-break with a header instead. 

Based on your commentary I have edited that message to insert the detail/summary tags as you suggest, I hope it meets with your approval.


<details><summary>
<i>Click to view additional colorful prose </i>
</summary>

## Directed at no one in particular.

While I appreciate that some people, and I have particularly noticed millennial and GenZ culture, prefer things reduced to "meme length". I suppose that as a genX/boomer my point of view on disseminating information may be a little bit different—I come from a generation literally raised on reading actual books cover to cover—and then the Internet effectively destroyed the print industry, [some studies have indicated¹](https://tangledweb.xyz/a-contrast-of-errors-373c2665d42a#8a25) that reading has decreased by 40% over the last 20 years.


### And perhaps this means that I need to bend with the times and develop new communication skills that are more succinct.


I do recognize that one of my communication deficits is dwelling on the minutia, which is a well-known trait of neurodivergent individuals on the autism spectrum. (I am on the spectrum, as you may be aware, diagnosed an Asperger's savant.) As a result, and with awareness of my proclivities, I do try to mitigate burdensome prolixity. 

Part of the understanding of the nature and extent of my communication deficits regarding this issue comes from a recent study in 2020, which investigated the nature of peer-to-peer communication between autistic and allistic groups.

_From the abstract of_ ["Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective"²](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361320919286)
> _Effective information transfer requires social communication skills. As autism is clinically defined by social communication deficits, it may be expected that information transfer between autistic people would be particularly deficient. However, the Double Empathy theory would suggest that communication difficulties arise from a mismatch in neurotype; and thus information transfer between autistic people may be more successful than information transfer between an autistic and a non-autistic person._

Indeed, the study found that the autistic group performed better than the allistic group, well the mixed group not only perform poorly, developed animosity.

Subsequently, and in an effort to improve my communication in general, and believe the animosity that apparently I am told I create, I have been experimenting with different ways to organize messages to allow neurotypicals to skim through them and still absorb the important gist, whilst foregoing the minutia. For example in the message that was commented on above, I originally indicated the point of the tangent-departure with a simple heading, thinking this would be enough to allow someone to the remainder of the message, after reading the first few paragraphs. Apparently this was not sufficient.

I have also made attempts to make longer posts more readable by making them more entertaining, using the aforementioned "colorful prose"—but according to the comment above that also is not appropriate. **My bad.**

I nevertheless find it challenging to distill the essence of an issue without also laying the foundation. And I do believe that _lack of foundation_ permeates communication today, with substantial negative effect.

As an observation, I encounter younger individuals who seem to feel that after reading a seven-word meme and extrapolating the remaining information out of thin air, they suddenly consider themselves subject matter experts, ironically exuding an entitled attitude of academic ableism. I have little to no tolerance for that. As far as musings, I'm musing as to how much of this cultural incongruity is the tragic result of that George W. Bush educational program known as _"No Child Left With A Brain"_.

Though alternately, and thinking critically about this, there is perhaps a more likely scenario: a greater problem might be that the Internet, for all that it enables, also has provided a socially devastating signal-to-noise ratio. Easy access to garbage-on-demand is still garbage, and further allows entities with questionable motivations to manipulate the gestalt by "planting seeds of misinformation", or worse.

According to Pew Research, polarization of American political opinion is at all time highs, a trend that began circa 2006, coincident with the birth of social media. Some years ago I posited that the [polarization was due to our election methods ³](https://americanunitedparty.net/ending-polarized-politics-cfc7622aacf2), but ultimately it seems to be of darker origin.

I don't mean to say that the blame rests with social media per se, but social media has provided the [conduit for discord campaigns ⁴](https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/senate-intel-committee-releases-bipartisan-report-russia’s-use-social-media) of foreign state actors to directly influence public opinion in a manner intended to divide and create social chaos. The flat earth nonsense is one example, but so is the deep political divide that has grown.

How best to combat this? Because _LOL Cats_ and _seven word memes_ are not going to save the day here.


### A Musing Summation

The points here are that:

1) There is substantial misinformation on the internet, including here on GitHub in W3 forums. 

2) Short, micro-aggressive statements still can have a negative effect, particularly when from authority, which makes it even more important that they be challenged with supportable and referenceable statements. 

3) Providing support and foundation for statements requires a certain amount of disclosure which may result in more "words in a post", and longer, supported responses certainly might be objected to by holders of opposing views; such is the nature of academic conflict or dispute.

4) _This_ message is an example of an _unrelated musing_, but my previous message was nevertheless on point. While my earlier message itself conceded that it may have been tangential to this thread, it is addressing a large misunderstanding specifically related to `color-contrast()` and contrast algorithms, and concerns a misunderstanding that I see being repeated, and therefore should be addressed with foundational information.



**_References_**

¹["International Reading Crisis" link in "Contrast of Errors"](https://tangledweb.xyz/a-contrast-of-errors-373c2665d42a#8a25)     
²["Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361320919286)     
³["Ending Polarized Politics: Two Parties, Many Problems"](https://americanunitedparty.net/ending-polarized-politics-cfc7622aacf2)     
⁴[Senate Intelligence Committee Press Release](https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/senate-intel-committee-releases-bipartisan-report-russia’s-use-social-media)     


</details>





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Received on Sunday, 19 February 2023 01:32:25 UTC