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As someone who wrote a Considered Harmful essay which ended up on the front page [1], allow me to disagree. "X Considered Harmful" lets the reader know very pr
by superb-owl 3y ago
As someone who wrote a Considered Harmful essay which ended up on the front page [1], allow me to disagree.
"X Considered Harmful" lets the reader know very precisely what it is they're about to read: a warning about a particular pattern or behavior that is common but tends to backfire. This goes for all meme-ified headlines ("X I love you but you're bringing me down", "Unreasonable Effectivenes of X", etc etc)
It's important to bring nuance to a discussion rather than taking an extremist position, and I think that's the author's main gripe. But nuance also adds confusion and waters down the message. Sometimes it's better to stake a clear position at the outset, and then address the nuances.
You can't just have balance; you have to balance balance with imbalance, balancedly [2]
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33865030 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33865030
[2] https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/09/12/in-the-balance/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/09/12/in-the-balance/
- gavinhoward 3y agoFellow "Considered Harmful" author here. You made a separate point from my own comment, and your point is very true!
- kashyapc 3y agoI don't buy it. It is still absolutely distasteful to reach to the nearest cliché as a bait. This much-abused phrase falsely implies one man's personal take as a broad consensus. (Also see karatebot's excellent point[1] in this thread.) If your "clear position" truly has any legs, it will stand without having to resort to "harmful" clichés as a lure. [1] http's://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35906505
- thecodedmessage 3y agoYeah, but I’m simply not convinced this cliche is that bad.
- kashyapc 3y agoIt's not about being "not that bad". Unless you really know what you're talking about, it is simply "good internet manners" to not sleep-walk into such an overloaded cliché. Most readers on the internet are in a hurry. If you're putting something out with such a heavy-handed headline, you jolly well be right. The point is, we have to do our part in resisting the impulse to add to the pile-of-poo (which is most of the internet).
- zelphirkalt 3y agoThere are many truthful things written, many with legs, but attention economy makes it so, that they are often overlooked, no matter how good their legs. However, further escalation is not going to improve the situation.