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look i'm as much of a bret victor fanboi as the next guy, but that one felt a little like "whoa ok you're too cool for school now huh"
by swyx 3y ago
look i'm as much of a bret victor fanboi as the next guy, but that one felt a little like "whoa ok you're too cool for school now huh"
- indigochill 3y agoI vaguely recall a meme somewhere about how ridiculous it is to ask, say, a sports or movie star their opinion on politics or something else that isn't their field just because they're famous. Heck, even within one's field, Bret may have neat ideas about interfaces for programming and attained a sort of celebrity status for some of us, but that doesn't mean he can confidently answer random questions from strangers. He's a researcher, not a guru.
- the-printer 3y agoThat last part stands out to me, him being a researcher, that is. I wonder if there is any detriment to the idea of researchers or other “knowledge workers” who use social media at the risk of exposing new developments or ideas to people who may be uninformed or unqualified in regard to whatever the individual is exposing publicly. Could/does this affect what they share or how they/others perceive their work that is shared?
- gsatic 3y agoSure does. Faraday stopped his EM experiments, not cuz of ignorant ppl, but "great" mathematicians of the day were mocking him for his lack of math skills. Without those experiments, no one would have ever dreamt up electromagnetism. And on the flip side, "qualified" ppl who couldnt grok the math of Maxwell or Heaviside, would dismiss the math as just too complex. This type of stuff happens all the time. Social media amplifies it. But you just have to find good ppl and ignore the herd to make progress. And dont mistake capturing Attention on Social Media or HN for progress.
- sitkack 3y agoDiscoveries are always preceded by a long string of "No" and why would you do this? Use good science, but run weird experiments!
- sph 3y ago> I vaguely recall a meme somewhere about how ridiculous it is to ask, say, a sports or movie star their opinion on politics or something else that isn't their field just because they're famous. Jürgen Klopp when asked about this opinion on COVID? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4bKnpxbYc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4bKnpxbYc — great answer in a time where every-fucking-body had to share their opinion on it, and still do.
- the-printer 3y agoI think it conveys a sense of dedication to his work that is at odds with the ever-looming desire to pontificate than it does aloofness toward others. I’m not familiar with him or his work beyond the cursory glance at his Wikipedia page that I made after recognizing the homepage from marginalia.nu binges, but I associated the statement with a certain level of exhaustion, or disinclination rather, from the desire to publicly comment on whatever bleeding edge or attention-grabbing topic a man of his profession and experience may encounter. I have no clue what this guy does with certainty, it sounds sort of Alan Kay-like? But based off this post it sounds like there’s a lot of ground he intends to cover with whatever he’s got going on that requires a lot of thought. Thought that he is reluctant to share at a toot’s notice.
- pmoriarty 3y agoIf you're not familiar with him, you could watch his "Inventing on Principle" talk [1] from 11 years ago. Starting at around the 12 minute mark should get you right to the good stuff (though it's all worth watching and thinking about). This is the talk that made him famous. Unfortunately, the demo he showed in that talk never really turned in to a product or movement that revolutionized programming as at the time many of us hoped it might. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUv66718DII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUv66718DII
- syntheweave 3y agoA pitfall of "Inventing on Principle", one which I believe Victor himself later noted, is that the talk is really a modest statement on what bringing some philosophy into your work could do, but it has an overwhelmingly engaging demo. Everyone tried to copy the demo in a kind of "wave of the future next gen programming" hype cycle instead of taking home the concept and trying to put that into work they were already doing. And, having been one of those impressed with the demo, now I look back on it thinking "this business of software is cargo-culting the whole way down, isn't it."
- brandall10 3y agoLight Table was the only real attempt I'm aware of. Any other notables?
- mattgreenrocks 3y agoTech is extremely boring on social media because there are many more opinions than those truly dedicated to the craft. You can argue that it shouldn’t be zero sum. But time and attention both are, and you can’t focus fully if you’re trying to “grow an audience.”
- justin66 3y agoFormulating an opinion worth sharing takes work.