Wow there is so much more there than I realized at first. I probably should have realized that any communication system would have layers, and when you're restricted to a subset of visual signals there would be all sorts of intricacies. The dual-language comment also lines up with a lot of what I've read this morning on the topic, in that many folks who use ASL full time have commented that written English can almost feel like a second language to them.
Seriously though, thank you very much for sharing your perspective on this. It's awesome to ask a question (in an area where I have no domain knowledge) and get such a high quality responses.
> Wow there is so much more there than I realized at first.
The eternal cry of the hackernewser upon finding that other subjects as well as computer science exist.
(EDIT: To clarify, I'm not intending to dunk on the parent poster specifically, rather call out how many people in this community and in the hacker community continually ignore the fact that, not only do other subjects exist, but they also have a lot of knowledge that isn't necessarily self-evident, and the issue has different constraints and priorities. A lot of the posts on here feel like nobody learned anything from the idiots that set up Metamed).
Lol to be fair, I don't know much about computer science either. Also, n-gate does a really good job of calling out the perception you're expanding on in your edit, and is usually fairly funny to boot.
As a bonus, the only thing that seems to be more common than someone on HN appearing out of touch with reality, is someone on HN trying to bring up how often HN appears out of touch. Be the change buddy :)
Seriously though, thank you very much for sharing your perspective on this. It's awesome to ask a question (in an area where I have no domain knowledge) and get such a high quality responses.