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Man, the hate is thick on the HN comment ground today. Lots of august people are very afraid of looking or feeling stupid. Ask anyone in a product development

Man, the hate is thick on the HN comment ground today. Lots of august people are very afraid of looking or feeling stupid. Ask anyone in a product development meeting to take a firm stance on the technical feasibility of a product feature and you'll get a lot of hemming and hawing about it whether the details are feasible, and very few people willing to put their neck out and say "Yes, we can do it." Because if you're wrong, you've spent some of your political capital in a way that fixes in everyone's mind: "Well, the last time we listened to cushychicken, we fucked up!" The angle that I think pg is missing is: when can you safely be a noob, without torpedoing your credibility? That's a much more difficult and interesting question.

balfirevic 7y ago
> and very few people willing to put their neck out and say "Yes, we can do it." Why would you want them to say it if they don't actually know it?
- cushychicken 7y ago
  I suppose my point was that people with the expertise to know how to do so are typically reluctant to stick their neck out and say so in front of a crowd. I should know. I'm one of those people. I very rarely agree to a feature without ironclad certainty (e.g. a working prototype in hand) that it can be done.
DataWorker 7y ago
That’s the point. If someone is never a noob, that’s bad, and if you confer greater credibility to noob-averse people, you’re not thinking optimally. Fight the urge to assign greater credibility to those who are afraid to be noobs.
- cushychicken 7y ago
  >Fight the urge to assign greater credibility to those who are afraid to be noobs. ...but conversely, someone who is afraid to be a noob is likely deeply experienced in something. It does create a very interesting natural tension.
qntty 7y ago
> Man, the hate is thick on the HN comment ground today. Am I the only one who's really annoyed by these kind of vague, middlebrow dismissals? If you want to say something, just say it. Let other people judge whether it's a more compelling perspective than other comments.
- yesenadam 7y ago
  >Am I the only one No.
- cushychicken 7y ago
  I'm very annoyed by what appears, lately, the rush to criticize and tear down other people's thoughts and posts. It's one of my least favorite characteristics of the tech community. Many people will come out of the woodwork to say "You can't".

balfirevic 7y ago

> and very few people willing to put their neck out and say "Yes, we can do it." Why would you want them to say it if they don't actually know it?

cushychicken 7y ago
I suppose my point was that people with the expertise to know how to do so are typically reluctant to stick their neck out and say so in front of a crowd. I should know. I'm one of those people. I very rarely agree to a feature without ironclad certainty (e.g. a working prototype in hand) that it can be done.

DataWorker 7y ago

That’s the point. If someone is never a noob, that’s bad, and if you confer greater credibility to noob-averse people, you’re not thinking optimally. Fight the urge to assign greater credibility to those who are afraid to be noobs.

cushychicken 7y ago
>Fight the urge to assign greater credibility to those who are afraid to be noobs. ...but conversely, someone who is afraid to be a noob is likely deeply experienced in something. It does create a very interesting natural tension.

qntty 7y ago

> Man, the hate is thick on the HN comment ground today. Am I the only one who's really annoyed by these kind of vague, middlebrow dismissals? If you want to say something, just say it. Let other people judge whether it's a more compelling perspective than other comments.

yesenadam 7y ago
>Am I the only one No.
cushychicken 7y ago
I'm very annoyed by what appears, lately, the rush to criticize and tear down other people's thoughts and posts. It's one of my least favorite characteristics of the tech community. Many people will come out of the woodwork to say "You can't".