4 ms·

The title reminds me of an interesting ancient Chinese anecdote. And it is also a bit ironic that Toyota has gotten itself into some scandals recently (https://

The title reminds me of an interesting ancient Chinese anecdote. And it is also a bit ironic that Toyota has gotten itself into some scandals recently (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wwj1p2wdyo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wwj1p2wdyo). King Wen of Wei asked Bian Que: “Of you three brothers, all physicians, who is the finest in the healing art?” Bian Que replied: “My eldest brother is the finest; my second brother comes next; I, Bian Que, am the least of the three.” King Wen said: “May I hear why?” Bian Que answered: “My eldest brother sees illness in the spirit, before it has taken shape, and removes it unseen; therefore his name is known only within our household. My second brother treats illness when it is but a hair’s breadth from appearing; therefore his name does not travel beyond our village lane. As for me, Bian Que: I pierce the blood vessels, administer strong medicines, and cut open the flesh. Thus, by such visible acts, my name has spread among the lords.”

tom2026hn 4mo ago
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- ashirviskas 4mo ago
  How many euros or kilograms is it?
  - projektfu 4mo ago
    Three Troy ergs.
    - deleted 4mo ago
      [deleted]
  - jimnotgym 4mo ago
    I would say in nice round numbers 50 grams prevention for a kilo of cure. That is my only criticism of the metric system, it doesn't often coincide with quantities handy for every day use, so makes poor 'sayings'.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
sorokod 4mo ago
Can you share the source of the anecdote? I tried to find it in Zhuangzi and was not successful.
- vitus 4mo ago
  Best I can tell, it's originally from Heguanzi: https://ctext.org/he-guan-zi/shi-xian https://ctext.org/he-guan-zi/shi-xian
  - dkga 4mo ago
    Beautiful text. By the way, I can't thank enough the maintainers at ctext.org. What a beautiful work they do.
valbaca 4mo ago
or a simpler version: "A stitch in time saves nine...but I charge by the stitch"
- notJim 4mo ago
  literally one of the main reasons america spends so much on healthcare
  - Schmerika 4mo ago
    And law.
- Npovview 4mo ago
  Can we measure preventive medicines or projects which have been designed with care from the beginning? Can we have metrics and measure/compare projects over lifetime production bugs? This reminds me of perverse Amazon practice of hiring people only to fire them to meet quota. This could have been avoided if they measured the average lifetime of hired individuals. If they were fired the very next firing round, it means the process is broken. Ideally a fixed percentage of freshly hired developers should have moved upward displacing senior slacking developers.
red-iron-pine 4mo ago
> And it is also a bit ironic that Toyota has gotten itself into some scandals recently (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wwj1p2wdyo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wwj1p2wdyo). the article is from June 2024. this is "recently"?
- _caw 4mo ago
  Yes? Toyota has been producing vehicles since the 30s, so two years ago is quite recent within context.
sirlaser 4mo ago
"My eldest brother prevents bugs from appearing before they ever arise, so his skills are only known to the dev team he's on. "My second brother casually fixes bugs as soon as they appear, so his skills are known to the entire tech department. "As for me, I rush around everyday putting out fires everywhere, so everyone in the company knows of me."

tom2026hn 4mo ago

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

ashirviskas 4mo ago
How many euros or kilograms is it?
- projektfu 4mo ago
  Three Troy ergs.
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
- jimnotgym 4mo ago
  I would say in nice round numbers 50 grams prevention for a kilo of cure. That is my only criticism of the metric system, it doesn't often coincide with quantities handy for every day use, so makes poor 'sayings'.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]

sorokod 4mo ago

Can you share the source of the anecdote? I tried to find it in Zhuangzi and was not successful.

vitus 4mo ago
Best I can tell, it's originally from Heguanzi: https://ctext.org/he-guan-zi/shi-xian https://ctext.org/he-guan-zi/shi-xian
- dkga 4mo ago
  Beautiful text. By the way, I can't thank enough the maintainers at ctext.org. What a beautiful work they do.

valbaca 4mo ago

or a simpler version: "A stitch in time saves nine...but I charge by the stitch"

notJim 4mo ago
literally one of the main reasons america spends so much on healthcare
- Schmerika 4mo ago
  And law.
Npovview 4mo ago
Can we measure preventive medicines or projects which have been designed with care from the beginning? Can we have metrics and measure/compare projects over lifetime production bugs? This reminds me of perverse Amazon practice of hiring people only to fire them to meet quota. This could have been avoided if they measured the average lifetime of hired individuals. If they were fired the very next firing round, it means the process is broken. Ideally a fixed percentage of freshly hired developers should have moved upward displacing senior slacking developers.

red-iron-pine 4mo ago

> And it is also a bit ironic that Toyota has gotten itself into some scandals recently (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wwj1p2wdyo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wwj1p2wdyo). the article is from June 2024. this is "recently"?

_caw 4mo ago
Yes? Toyota has been producing vehicles since the 30s, so two years ago is quite recent within context.

sirlaser 4mo ago

"My eldest brother prevents bugs from appearing before they ever arise, so his skills are only known to the dev team he's on. "My second brother casually fixes bugs as soon as they appear, so his skills are known to the entire tech department. "As for me, I rush around everyday putting out fires everywhere, so everyone in the company knows of me."