Update guidelines for guidelines

There are a couple of issues with the "meta-guidelines":

1. Currently, if you want to assign a guideline to a category, you must
   use an emoji in the guideline header. There are two problems with
   emoji: they are difficult to work with — try selecting one in your
   editor! — and, like icons, they can mean different things to
   different people.

2. Originally we borrowed the concept of guideline categories from the
   Redux Style Guide. This guide lists three of them: Essential,
   Strongly Recommended (renamed to "Recommended" here), and Recommended
   (renamed to "Suggested"). However, there is not a clear delineation
   between these categories — when do you know whether to assign
   something as Recommended vs. Essential? — and anyway, we've only used
   the first and third categories so far.

3. The guideline that describes how to present a dichotomy — a
   non-recommended way to do something and a recommended way to do it —
   allowed for unclear wording.

4. The "be empowered" guideline isn't really a guideline, it's just a
   nice thing to say. And it really applies to the whole repo, not just
   the guidelines.

To solve these issues:

1. I've simplified the concept of guideline categories. There are
   only two. All guidelines are essentially rules by default. If a
   guideline presents options for addressing a pain point, they can
   be called out by using an emoji.

2. I've simplified the instructions on how to give examples.

3. I've removed the "be empowered" guideline. I may add that to the root
   README and also explain how to propose new changes.

Author: mcmire

guides/guidelines.md

@@ -1,77 +1,51 @@
 # Guidelines for Writing Guidelines
 
-## 🙏 Use this document as a guide
+## Use this document as a guide
 
 This document is not only a set of guidelines, but also a template for other guidelines documents.
 
-## 🙏 Communicate the importance of your guideline
-
-Guidelines may differ in how closely they are intended to be followed. To designate the importance of a guideline, include an emoji in its header to assign it to one of three categories:
-
-1. **🙏 (Standard):** These are guidelines that it really behooves everyone to follow. There shouldn't be a reason not to follow them, but anyone who feels that a guideline should be changed or removed should start a discussion in a pull request.
-2. **🌳 (Recommended):** These are guidelines that everyone ought to follow, though teams or projects may opt to bypass or change them if they have a good reason to do so.
-3. **💡 (Suggested):** These are guidelines that offer one way to solve a problem among multiple, equally valid alternatives. When you are writing such a guideline, enumerate these alternatives and suggest one of them for the reader to follow.
-
-## 🙏 Be direct
+## Be direct
 
 Guidelines should be as easy to understand and follow as possible. Think of each guideline like a commit: start with a concise summary, preferably a direct command, then use a paragraph or two to elaborate.
 
-## 🙏 Be succinct
-
-Remove extraneous language in both the guideline itself and the elaboration (see [*The Elements of Style*](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37134/37134-h/37134-h.htm#Rule_13) for help).
+## Be succinct
 
-## 🙏 Bolster your guideline if necessary
+Remove extraneous language in both the guideline itself and the elaboration.
 
-If a discussion exists in Slack or GitHub which spawned your guideline, link to that discussion. Or, if a book, blog post, or related work exists which can help to shine light on your guideline's utility, link to the resource.
+## Bolster your guideline if necessary
 
-Although not strictly necessary for arbitrary guidelines (which aim to solve problems with multiple, equal-advantage solutions) or for axiomatic guidelines (which abide by values assumed to be good over those assumed to be bad), including a context or rationale with your guideline is still helpful for onboarding.
+If a discussion exists in a public GitHub repository which provides context around a guideline, link to that discussion. Or, if a book, blog post, or related work exists which helps to explain the purpose of a guideline, link to the resource.
 
-Here is an example:
+Use a "Read more" section to collect multiple resources:
 
 ``` markdown
-## Use snake-case to name files and directories.
+### Read more
 
-[**View discussion on GitHub**](https://example.com).
+- [Link 1](https://example1.com)
+- [Link 2](https://example2.com)
+- [Link 3](https://example3.com)
 ```
 
-## 🙏 Provide examples
+## Provide examples
 
-It is far easier to understand a principle not by reading about it, but by observing its effects.
+It is far easier to understand the purpose and effects of a guideline not by reading about it, but by observing an example.
 
-A common way to provide an example is to offer a dichotomy: a passage of code which does not follow the guideline followed by a passage of code that does. Understanding that some decisions are arbitary, take care not to use language like "bad" or "good" which could be misread by others as a slight against them. Rather than assigning a grade to the code in question, tell the reader what to do.
+A common way to provide an example is to offer a dichotomy, a passage of code which falls outside the guideline followed by a passage of code that conforms to it. Understanding that some decisions are arbitrary, take care not to use language like "bad"/"good", "incorrect"/"correct", etc., which may sound judgmental. Rather than assigning a grade to the code in question, use emoji:
 
-For instance, instead of this:
+    🚫
 
-~~~ markdown
-**Bad:**
+    ``` javascript
+    const x = 42;
+    ```
 
-``` javascript
-const x = 42;
-```
-
-**Good:**
+    ✅
 
-``` javascript
-const THE_MEANING_OF_LIFE = 42;
-```
-~~~
+    ``` javascript
+    const THE_MEANING_OF_LIFE = 42;
+    ```
 
-say something like this:
-
-~~~ markdown
-Instead of this:
-
-``` javascript
-const x = 42;
-```
-
-say this:
-
-``` javascript
-const THE_MEANING_OF_LIFE = 42;
-```
-~~~
+## Mark guidelines with options accordingly
 
-## 🙏 Be empowered to propose your ideas/suggestions
+By default, a guideline is intended to be followed unless there is a good reason not to do so.
 
-The guidelines in this repository are not set in stone, and none of us is the gatekeeper. If you disagree with a guideline, or you notice a guideline that's missing, feel free to open a discussion in a pull request.
+Occasionally, however, a guideline may offer a set of options among which the reader may choose. To designate this type of guideline, prefix the header with 💡.