4 ms·

A gem from this article: "Minecraft would probably never have happened, if Notch started by asking in the forums if he should use Java or not." Most things wou

by api 4y ago

A gem from this article: "Minecraft would probably never have happened, if Notch started by asking in the forums if he should use Java or not." Most things wouldn't happen if the creator asked ahead of time what they should do. This is the dark side of peer review and relying on peers. It leads to a kind of mental / creative vetocracy situation where ideas are killed in their most fragile state by casual comments.

enviclash 4y ago
Vetocracy is a real thing. It plays an important (devastating) role in scientific progress, even there is a saying about advancement at funeral-based time steps, making a similar point: Science advances funeral by funeral. Science advances one funeral at a time. Science progresses funeral by funeral. Knowledge advances funeral by funeral. [1] The quote is attributed to economist Paul A. Samuelson[1]. [1] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/09/25/progress/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/09/25/progress/
- O__________O 4y ago
  - Wikipedia page for Vetocracy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vetocracy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vetocracy - Notable prior HN coverage of topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29625988 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29625988
  - enviclash 4y ago
    Perhaps is there a better term to describe vetocracy in science? Wikipedia here just refer to it's application to democratic institutions.
    - O__________O 4y ago
      Likely better to generally the pattern than narrow it, since more surface area it covers, more likely people are to want to understand it. For example, in my opinion, pattern aligns to phrase "not in my back yard" — where ultimately, like in science, if a subject matter is vetoed as being off limits, scientists just go somewhere it is not: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY
      - enviclash 4y ago
        Vetocracy and NIMBY under the same conceptual umbrella? I need to think about it, I see the semantic fields have non-intersecting areas that can be contradicting. E.g. how saying no to externalising pollutants to rural areas is a vetocracy?
bombcar 4y ago
I suspect this is true but not necessarily for the reasons you suspect; that a person who is asking what to do is often not the type of person who does, and the second type is really what you need to get things moving.

by api 4y ago

enviclash 4y ago

Vetocracy is a real thing. It plays an important (devastating) role in scientific progress, even there is a saying about advancement at funeral-based time steps, making a similar point: Science advances funeral by funeral. Science advances one funeral at a time. Science progresses funeral by funeral. Knowledge advances funeral by funeral. [1] The quote is attributed to economist Paul A. Samuelson[1]. [1] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/09/25/progress/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/09/25/progress/

O__________O 4y ago
- Wikipedia page for Vetocracy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vetocracy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vetocracy - Notable prior HN coverage of topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29625988 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29625988
- enviclash 4y ago
  Perhaps is there a better term to describe vetocracy in science? Wikipedia here just refer to it's application to democratic institutions.
  - O__________O 4y ago
    Likely better to generally the pattern than narrow it, since more surface area it covers, more likely people are to want to understand it. For example, in my opinion, pattern aligns to phrase "not in my back yard" — where ultimately, like in science, if a subject matter is vetoed as being off limits, scientists just go somewhere it is not: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY
    - enviclash 4y ago
      Vetocracy and NIMBY under the same conceptual umbrella? I need to think about it, I see the semantic fields have non-intersecting areas that can be contradicting. E.g. how saying no to externalising pollutants to rural areas is a vetocracy?

bombcar 4y ago

I suspect this is true but not necessarily for the reasons you suspect; that a person who is asking what to do is often not the type of person who does, and the second type is really what you need to get things moving.