Your post would also get a failing grade in an English essay. This says little about your post, because you didn't write it to get a grade in an English class.

Your post would also get a failing grade in an English essay. This says little about your post, because you didn't write it to get a grade in an English class. You are setting up a false evaluation context - it is like watching a competition at the Olympics wherein people fire at a target, but then drawing a circle in your bedroom and saying they missed. Of course they missed: in your post you weren't aiming at an English essay grade so it says nothing about the quality of your post that your comment would fail to get a good grade. In like manner - unless we suppose you are being hypocritical - we can conclude that as Paul was not trying to get a good grade in an English class it matters little whether or not he would receive a good grade within one. The extent to which this false evaluation context is unfair is belied by your need to ignore the actual evaluation context. His essays were written in part to help him think through problems related to starting companies, because he founded and popularized startup incubators. The startup incubator wasn't just successful, it was successful to the point of broad influence. Others have since copied his approach. Now putting aside that the comparison is ridiculous: your guess as to what he would get in grades is probably also wrong: How to Disagree is an example of an essay that would do very well in a Critical Thinking course; actually some people who teach Critical Thinking suggest people ought to read it.