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> Microsoft Excel is perhaps the greatest program-slash-programming language ever invented I would argue the opposite: it is the single most harmful piece of s
by Aaargh20318 4y ago
> Microsoft Excel is perhaps the greatest program-slash-programming language ever invented
I would argue the opposite: it is the single most harmful piece of software ever invented. It allows people to reduce everything to numbers and then expect reality to match with the numbers in the spreadsheet without any regard for the actual human beings it affects.
It goes from “if we just change this number from 40 hrs/week to 50 hrs/week, we’ll make our deadline” all the way to “look, if we reduce the number or cancer treatments we authorize by X% then our profits go up by Y%”
- jhardy54 4y agoIs this a criticism of Excel specifically, or is the problem that it’s making basic arithmetic more accessible to institutions with negative externalities?
- Aaargh20318 4y agoIt’s a criticism of spreadsheets in general.
- jhardy54 4y agoDoes this criticism extend to graphing calculators?
- kenjackson 4y agoThis criticism extends to pretty much math in general.
- Aaargh20318 4y agoNo. Spreadsheets allow for easy manipulation of large tables of numbers and immediately see the results. It’s this ability to ‘tweak’ the numbers quickly that makes it so dangerous.
- lazide 4y agoAh, so making assholes effective is the sin? I hate to break it to you, but that applies to everything from bricks to aircraft carriers.
- coliveira 4y agoBut this way of thinking has nothing to do with excel in particular.
- splistud 4y ago