4 ms·

I understand edge cases and hidden complexity very well as software engineer, see my comment above for why I don't accept this take.

• ceejayoz 6y ago
  You don't have to accept it for it to be true. The point of "hidden complexity" is that it's hidden. Talking to an expert in public policy in the specific area in question might well reveal the "glaring flaw" is actually a known thing, with a good but counter-intuitive reason behind it. I've seen precisely that in software; big precautionary comments in code that say "this seems weird, but here's why it exists; you can try and fix it, but you'll just increment the 'leave this code alone' counter again".
  • eloff 6y ago
    I understand that well, and it surely applies in some cases. In others, I think the government did such a bad job that it is not only possible, but quite way to come up with better alternatives, that are actually better considering the full complexity of the problem.