4 ms·

I'll add one that's very common in HN: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." Instantly closes the door to any thoughtful discussion.

y-curious 8mo ago
Everything will be ok, man. Everything happens for a reason. Don’t worry.
eterm 8mo ago
I use that a lot, but I find it is useful to avoid purity spirals. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_spiral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_spiral ) I didn't see it as closing down discussion, so I'll be mindful of that in future. There is a real danger when presented with a problem to discard a partial solution because it fails to tackle a much larger problem. It's a call for pragmatism over idealism.
pixl97 8mo ago
I'm mixed on this one. Perfect us generally very expensive or doesn't actually exist. Quite often I'll use this in the place of "shit or get off the pot" as the search of Perfect will delay getting anything done.
- cosmic_cheese 8mo ago
  Yeah this is generally how I use it, too. I don’t think of it as thought-terminating in those cases… if anything, it’s the opposite. Dismissal in pursuit of perfection feels more thought-terminating to me, because it shuts down discussion of what can be done now, how to mitigate downside, and gradually work towards an ideal instead favoring doing nothing and waiting for some highly improbable ready-made ideal solution to present itself at some indeterminate point in the future.
Ma8ee 8mo ago
I think that certainly can provide a valid point in a discussion, without being any attempt to shut it down. And for some of us, with some specific personality traits, using it as a mantra is how we get anything at all done some days.
buescher 8mo ago
That’s another one that’s true but particularly irritating when used as a cheap shot. I have responses for that like “Is it good when it breaks? Who owns it when it does?” Sort of like “are you fast if you don’t finish? Are you finished if you have to do things over?”
palmotea 8mo ago
> I'll add one that's very common in HN: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." > Instantly closes the door to any thoughtful discussion. No, because it's very common here for people use lack of perfection as an excuse for inaction, specifically to shut down thoughtful discussion of a problem or solutions to it
mrguyorama 8mo ago
I disagree. It seems there is nothing HN likes more than claiming a single tiny mistake, or difference of preference, or possible hang up that will certainly come out in the wash are all valid reasons to reject anything and everything. Programmers especially need to be constantly reminded that perfect is the enemy of the good, as do people trying to run successful businesses.

y-curious 8mo ago

Everything will be ok, man. Everything happens for a reason. Don’t worry.

eterm 8mo ago

I use that a lot, but I find it is useful to avoid purity spirals. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_spiral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_spiral ) I didn't see it as closing down discussion, so I'll be mindful of that in future. There is a real danger when presented with a problem to discard a partial solution because it fails to tackle a much larger problem. It's a call for pragmatism over idealism.

pixl97 8mo ago

I'm mixed on this one. Perfect us generally very expensive or doesn't actually exist. Quite often I'll use this in the place of "shit or get off the pot" as the search of Perfect will delay getting anything done.

cosmic_cheese 8mo ago
Yeah this is generally how I use it, too. I don’t think of it as thought-terminating in those cases… if anything, it’s the opposite. Dismissal in pursuit of perfection feels more thought-terminating to me, because it shuts down discussion of what can be done now, how to mitigate downside, and gradually work towards an ideal instead favoring doing nothing and waiting for some highly improbable ready-made ideal solution to present itself at some indeterminate point in the future.

Ma8ee 8mo ago

I think that certainly can provide a valid point in a discussion, without being any attempt to shut it down. And for some of us, with some specific personality traits, using it as a mantra is how we get anything at all done some days.

buescher 8mo ago

That’s another one that’s true but particularly irritating when used as a cheap shot. I have responses for that like “Is it good when it breaks? Who owns it when it does?” Sort of like “are you fast if you don’t finish? Are you finished if you have to do things over?”

palmotea 8mo ago

> I'll add one that's very common in HN: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." > Instantly closes the door to any thoughtful discussion. No, because it's very common here for people use lack of perfection as an excuse for inaction, specifically to shut down thoughtful discussion of a problem or solutions to it

mrguyorama 8mo ago

I disagree. It seems there is nothing HN likes more than claiming a single tiny mistake, or difference of preference, or possible hang up that will certainly come out in the wash are all valid reasons to reject anything and everything. Programmers especially need to be constantly reminded that perfect is the enemy of the good, as do people trying to run successful businesses.