A Tangential Remark on Procrustean Epistemologies

I came across this post (and its sequel) on mastodon today, which gave me a fair bit to think about:

Procrustean Epistemologies, Pt 1: The Allergy Problem

It is a discussion about the problem with computer system whose data model does not fit the mental model of domain experts, and which forces those experts' to distort their data to fit the form demanded by the computer system and – by doing so – introducing inaccuracies to the data itself. It is well worth a read on its own, but it reminded me of something that recently happened to me, which was admittedly not that but shared the same cause of entry of some information into an ill-fitting data model.

I changed my name some time back and after doing so, I had to file a update with whoever hands out social insurance numbers in this country. Somewhat conveniently, this can be done online and the website in question helpfully guides you through correctly providing the required information and (pictures of the required documents), which I did. Or at least, I thought I did, until a good while later I received an email informing me that my application had been rejected due to the lack of supporting documentation and that I had to resubmit my application with that documentation (which I took to be my name change certificate, although they never explicitly said as such).

I went through the form more carefully that time, and here's the thing: there was nowhere to upload supporting documentation. I went back and forth between the various pages of the form until I realized that the button to upload supporting documentation only appeared if I answered “Are you changing your surname?” in the affirmative. I was, in fact, only changing my first name, but lied on that question so I could submit the name change certificate. I guess that was fine with them because I eventually received confirmation of the update.

I don't really know how that was missed when the form was literally for changing the name associated with your SIN. Perhaps someone forgot that people change their given names too?