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Pennsylvanian Dutch is more likely since they shun fancy things like electricity. https://ohiosamishcountry.com/articles/amish-faqs But, the concatenated type names deep in any inheritance hierarchy would tend to be a scary sight (there be dragons) in agglutinative languages.



They better stay away from Electron apps then.

But seriously, they shun electricity‽


I live in the upper midwest, and there's quite a few communities here. Those that I have visited have one phone (in a booth by the road in front of someone's house) that the whole community uses. A wood working shop has a diesel engine to occasionally run air compressors, which in turn operate a lot of the larger tools for making lumber. A horse could do the job on a treadmill [1], but since the result is the same, they don't make the animal do the pointless work when they already get plenty of exercise.

No cars, no electricity, though they'll hire a car when people need to get medical treatment or travel long distances to visit relatives. It's not about not using technology, so much as it is not having technology in your daily life that doesn't bring you closer to God. This particular group even uses safety pins instead of buttons in their clothes, since buttons are usually shiny or patterned with designs, which are can be a temptation of vanity. It's a conscious decision to give up a modern convenience in exchange for being spiritually healthier.

Try spending a winter in a place without electricity, where your life depends on keeping a wood fired stove going (preferably a high efficiency model that doesn't produce a lot of smoke or particulates), and you start to appreciate the true amount of work that gas heating saves you. It does make you wonder, though, if the effort saved has allowed you to actually live a richer life.

That is what they live every day, in all aspects. More work and fewer conveniences, but fewer distractions from what they value most.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE-qMwFPGlE


So in order to be spiritually closer to god, they prefer to burn a fuel that takes much more work to gather, that creates exponentially more emissions, and that is way less efficient? Seems rather silly.


Proper wood burning devices can actually be as, if not more efficient (fuel consumption wise) than gas furnaces. Given that they also don't live in high density areas, any particulate is basically just fertilizing their crop fields.

Compared to natural gas and propane, which realease a fair amount of methane (not to mention just as much CO2), and it's not the slam dunk criticism that you're thinking it is.


You are comparing a singular aspect which is antithetical to the wholesome approach. If you don't actually like chopping wood or enjoy the sight of chopped wood or brawny men chopping wood (no wonder the birth rate is so high) or any other aspect of the chore then yes it is a very inefficient process. Burning wood outside of a city is not an emissions problem IMO.


Not everybody belongs to the Church of Emissions, you see.


Some do, some don't. Some of my relatives still wear all of the dress, have most of the customs, and live very simple lives but drive cars and use electricity. Some look exactly like you or or I but still have a lot of the cultural values.

Other much more distant relatives in nearby communities don't use electricity or any modern technology and speak mostly Pennsylvania Dutch.


Yep, to an extent!

Saw this on HN once: https://kk.org/thetechnium/amish-hackers-a/




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