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I find this kind of empty criticism frustrating. Do you have anything constructive to add about this article specifically?
by petersellers 3y ago
I find this kind of empty criticism frustrating. Do you have anything constructive to add about this article specifically?
- zabzonk 3y agolook at any of the bullet points in the article. it's very hard to constructivly criticise any of them, they are all so vapid. typical of beck's writings.
- petersellers 3y agoI think it's more likely that if you can't find anything constructive to say about it, that maybe you don't have a valid argument (your original post was an ad hominem attack after all).
- zabzonk 3y agonot ad hominem - i know nothing about him as a person. i have read 3 or 4 of his books (have you?) and found them pretty worthless.
- petersellers 3y agoIn your original post, you dismissed the article because you read previous books of his and thought they were bad. That is literally an ad hominem.
- zabzonk 3y agono, it isn't. ad hominem is attacking a person. i was criticising his writings.
- petersellers 3y agoYou are attacking the person's writing capability, implying that the article is not good because they wrote something before that you disagreed with. You're trying to argue semantics here, but it doesn't really matter because either way your argument is fallacious.
- kjs3 3y agoYes, "all a bit pants" really plumbs the depths of intellectual critique.
- misja111 3y agoWell if it's so hard to criticise them, that could be an indication that there is some truth in them. > they are all so vapid I like that he doesn't make sweeping statements. Because in software development, to quote another great author, there is no silver bullet. That's not a popular story to tell when you're writing a book or speaking in a conference, people like to hear simple black and white statements. But the fact of the matter is, reality is much more nuanced.
- bdcravens 3y agoI think the point is that at some point, the "thought leaders" start to lose relevance when they're not day-to-day practitioners. I'm not saying it is or isn't true about Beck (I've always enjoyed listening to him speak), but is critical thinking we should apply to anyone.
- petersellers 3y agoThat's not critical thinking though, it's fallacious thinking. Whether or not someone is a "thought leader" has no bearing on the quality of the article.
- bdcravens 3y agoWould the article have gotten as much traction if it had been written anonymously? If there's an appeal to authority, then an evaluation is appropriate.
- petersellers 3y agoWhere is the appeal to authority? I'm not seeing it.
- lijok 3y agoIn the title of the post “- by Kent Beck”
- petersellers 3y agoHow is that an appeal to authority?
- bdcravens 3y agoWhy submit it like that, but to indicate to readers why this article is worth reading? HN guidelines say to submit the title as is, without additional qualifiers or commentary. (Fortunately, the mods updated it)