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> Am I misunderstanding something? Probably. Did you attempt the quiz? > If they wrote a blog post on rules of thumb for evaluating code, would you take it s

> Am I misunderstanding something? Probably. Did you attempt the quiz? > If they wrote a blog post on rules of thumb for evaluating code, would you take it seriously? I don't know if I would take it seriously before I read it. But after reading it, if it had quiz showing me their method could get over 95% correct after reading a 10 or so word summary of the end result, I'd take it very seriously. I haven't come across too many things in my professional life that have save me that much time. It makes you wonder just how much spare time the people who peer reviewed those papers had on their hands.

forapurpose 8y ago
> if it had quiz showing me their method could get over 95% correct after reading a 10 or so word summary of the end result, I'd take it very seriously. Often, amateurs find seemingly obvious answers to the wrong question. I once was reading Amazon user reviews of translations of Confucius' Analects. For one translation, a few reviewers observed that the translator went bizarrely off-topic in the footnotes, giving his opinions on various things Confucian and contemporary. I ruled out that translation. Then I read a Chinese scholar's review of translations, and learned that such commentary was in fact the standard of the leading editions of the Analects going back millennia. The Amazon users - as amateurs often do - had no idea what they were seeing, and if I hadn't found the scholar's review, I would have believed them too (and missed out what that incredible work translation - a widely recognized work of art and genius - had to offer me from Confucius). That's the last time I trusted Amazon reviews. Similarly, you can find plenty of well-reasoned, persuasive, and totally wrong legal and medical advice online (including on HN). How can one avoid falling into the same trap as I did with the Amazon reviews? Don't trust amateurs, no matter how persuasive they seem, in questions that require expertise.

forapurpose 8y ago

> if it had quiz showing me their method could get over 95% correct after reading a 10 or so word summary of the end result, I'd take it very seriously. Often, amateurs find seemingly obvious answers to the wrong question. I once was reading Amazon user reviews of translations of Confucius' Analects. For one translation, a few reviewers observed that the translator went bizarrely off-topic in the footnotes, giving his opinions on various things Confucian and contemporary. I ruled out that translation. Then I read a Chinese scholar's review of translations, and learned that such commentary was in fact the standard of the leading editions of the Analects going back millennia. The Amazon users - as amateurs often do - had no idea what they were seeing, and if I hadn't found the scholar's review, I would have believed them too (and missed out what that incredible work translation - a widely recognized work of art and genius - had to offer me from Confucius). That's the last time I trusted Amazon reviews. Similarly, you can find plenty of well-reasoned, persuasive, and totally wrong legal and medical advice online (including on HN). How can one avoid falling into the same trap as I did with the Amazon reviews? Don't trust amateurs, no matter how persuasive they seem, in questions that require expertise.