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“Agents” is a boring name. We had the right idea with “daemons”. Why don’t we go with “djinns” or “daevas”?

Joyce Park

@troutgirl.bsky.social

18 July 2025

It's never a great idea to "borrow" the names of other cultures' cryptids without knowing much about them.

Kevin Swiber

@swiber.dev

18 July 2025

I hear that. Unfortunately, if I'm going for "ancient and supernatural", the US can't offer anything. Even the Disney version of these are stolen from other cultures. But no one should boo-hoo for what could be considered "colonizers' dilemma".

Joyce Park

@troutgirl.bsky.social

18 July 2025

Have you ever heard of Mothman? ;) The Jersey Devil? Whatever was chasing the Irish dude in Sinners?

Kevin Swiber

@swiber.dev

Those are good examples! Many have earlier origins than modern US pop culture, but that's part of the allure. What scared us thousands of years ago still scares us today. It's a shared thread across time. In some ways, AI agents are the new boogeyman. Frightening or just misunderstood? Maybe both?

18/7/25, 9:00 pm0 reposts1 like

Joyce Park

@troutgirl.bsky.social

18 July 2025

I was once hiking up by the Redwood national and state parks, and got caught out after dark. I've been camping a billion times and never felt fear, but that night an atavistic dread came over me and I realized why all those old fairy tales are set in dark woods...