6 ms·

How can you call the guy a CS major? He was a grad student in psychology, right?

jvanderbot 5y ago
"The married father of two had graduated from Cambridge University in 1981 with a degree in computer science, and spent most of his career as an IT networks operator at an international organization in Strasbourg, France." Pretty early in the article.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  Yes, but the context was also with that person as a current student, which was not in CS, and his CS background didn't have much bearing on what he discovered. It would have been just as relevant to say "Father of two debunked..." A better title would have been "New Student in APS debunks core finding in the field."
  - kwhitefoot 5y ago
    But that wouldn't attract so many HNers to comment.
  - jvanderbot 5y ago
    HN readers are predominately CS/IT folks, and would probably relate better to that aspect of his person than others. That's certainly why I read the article. Should I emphasize that he lives in the UK? "UK citizen debunks positive psychology" Or should I emphasize the statehood of the person debunked? "UK citizen debunks US professor with one neat trick" Just trying to summarize the relevant parts of the story without clickbait -- which the article did pretty well I thought.
    - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
      Going the full clickbait: "You'll never believe how this aging British empty-nested IT guy took down a US professor with one neat trick!"
    - ineedasername 5y ago
      The relevant part was his status as a APP student, so that's what I would go with for the headline. Using an irrelevant bit because it will get more clicks seems to fall under the "click bait" domain, especially when he was a grad from CS, not a current major. Personally I would be more interested to know that it was a newbie student to an academic field debunked a core tenet. "New APP Students Debunks Core APP Finding" is much more interesting to me than a coincidence of the former academics pursuits with mine. It implies the question, "If a brand new student to the field saw this error so quickly, why didn't anyone else?"
mywittyname 5y ago
Am I the only one who hates the phrase, " __ major"? One can "major" in a subject for all of three weeks. It's not some indicator of any sort of knowledge. At least the phrase, "___ graduate" implies that they at least learned enough to be issued a degree.
- menage 5y ago
  It's also not a phrase that you'd use of someone with a degree from Cambridge University, or I think any UK university.

"The married father of two had graduated from Cambridge University in 1981 with a degree in computer science, and spent most of his career as an IT networks operator at an international organization in Strasbourg, France." Pretty early in the article.

ineedasername 5y ago
Yes, but the context was also with that person as a current student, which was not in CS, and his CS background didn't have much bearing on what he discovered. It would have been just as relevant to say "Father of two debunked..." A better title would have been "New Student in APS debunks core finding in the field."
- kwhitefoot 5y ago
  But that wouldn't attract so many HNers to comment.
- jvanderbot 5y ago
  HN readers are predominately CS/IT folks, and would probably relate better to that aspect of his person than others. That's certainly why I read the article. Should I emphasize that he lives in the UK? "UK citizen debunks positive psychology" Or should I emphasize the statehood of the person debunked? "UK citizen debunks US professor with one neat trick" Just trying to summarize the relevant parts of the story without clickbait -- which the article did pretty well I thought.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    Going the full clickbait: "You'll never believe how this aging British empty-nested IT guy took down a US professor with one neat trick!"
  - ineedasername 5y ago
    The relevant part was his status as a APP student, so that's what I would go with for the headline. Using an irrelevant bit because it will get more clicks seems to fall under the "click bait" domain, especially when he was a grad from CS, not a current major. Personally I would be more interested to know that it was a newbie student to an academic field debunked a core tenet. "New APP Students Debunks Core APP Finding" is much more interesting to me than a coincidence of the former academics pursuits with mine. It implies the question, "If a brand new student to the field saw this error so quickly, why didn't anyone else?"

mywittyname 5y ago

Am I the only one who hates the phrase, " __ major"? One can "major" in a subject for all of three weeks. It's not some indicator of any sort of knowledge. At least the phrase, "___ graduate" implies that they at least learned enough to be issued a degree.

menage 5y ago
It's also not a phrase that you'd use of someone with a degree from Cambridge University, or I think any UK university.