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I've noticed the appeals to authority have ramped up since the authorities have been wrong over and over, again and again. At what point do we just stop calling
by rriepe 6y ago
I've noticed the appeals to authority have ramped up since the authorities have been wrong over and over, again and again. At what point do we just stop calling them authorities?
At this point, the software engineer is more believable because he has fewer reasons to lie to you. The "expert" is going to be held up and crucified (in the style of this blog post) if he goes against the accepted narrative. And that's if he's not bought off right at the start.
This isn't the software engineer's credibility problem. It's yours.
- btilly 6y agoNote that the reply was itself written by a software engineer as well. There is no particular reason to believe one over the other. As for "authorities", I distinguish between people who try to understand and think well, versus those who have been recognized by bureaucracies and politicians. The first group has done astoundingly well. The second group has failed over and over again. Sadly it is the second group that is in charge. And the result has been repeated institutional failures. :-(
- crusso 6y agoYeah... https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html
- FpUser 6y agoAt this point, the software engineer is more believable because he has fewer reasons to lie to you I think this is false. Said software developer can have whole shebang of personal reasons to have his/her opinion on a subject be swayed either way. As a matter of fact your average software developer is often super opinionated about things. How can this not propagate to other areas I have no idea.