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Those who are so foolish as to boycott a programming language, because their politics may not be entirely simpatico with those of its inventor, need no remindin

by aaronem 13y ago

Those who are so foolish as to boycott a programming language, because their politics may not be entirely simpatico with those of its inventor, need no reminding; those not so foolish don't care.

egeozcan 13y ago
I love JavaScript but I care. Also, going as far as calling people fools show that you care more than you may think about what others think.
- aaronem 13y ago
  You mistake 'foolish' for a value judgment. It is a statement of fact. Participation in this conference offers enormous benefit to any Javascript developer; to consider absenting oneself, because of a political disagreement with a keynote speaker, evinces that poor judgment which is the very soul of foolishness.
  - egeozcan 13y ago
    Isn't it a bit foolish that you decide for everyone that benefits in their career would eclipse their will to defend their freedom?
    - aaronem 13y ago
      It is hyperbole verging upon silliness to conflate evaluating a person's actions in order to form an opinion of him, and actually making decisions for that person. It is likewise to conflate "defending freedom", whatever you might mean by that uselessly nebulous phrase, with boycotting an extremely valuable conference, because it is keynoted by someone who may perhaps once have invented a programming language of some slight interest, but who, much more importantly, once donated a trivial sum of money in support of a campaign for a plebiscite whose result was promptly vacated by the Supreme Court. No doubt, for someone to whom this would actually matter, boycotting the conference would seem a principled act providing a lovely warm glow of righteousness. I submit that there are many ways of obtaining said lovely warm glow, most of which do not entail denying oneself the opportunity to study with many high luminaries of one's chosen field. For example, one might donate $1000, or perhaps some greater sum, to some organization advancing the cause of gay marriage, and thus feel free to attend the conference without fear of moral taint.
      - egeozcan 13y ago
        The value of the conference differs to each person as much as the value of doing his/her best not to support people who support discrimination. Your values are different. I respect that. I think you should learn to respect other values too.

by aaronem 13y ago

Those who are so foolish as to boycott a programming language, because their politics may not be entirely simpatico with those of its inventor, need no reminding; those not so foolish don't care.

egeozcan 13y ago

I love JavaScript but I care. Also, going as far as calling people fools show that you care more than you may think about what others think.

aaronem 13y ago
You mistake 'foolish' for a value judgment. It is a statement of fact. Participation in this conference offers enormous benefit to any Javascript developer; to consider absenting oneself, because of a political disagreement with a keynote speaker, evinces that poor judgment which is the very soul of foolishness.
- egeozcan 13y ago
  Isn't it a bit foolish that you decide for everyone that benefits in their career would eclipse their will to defend their freedom?
  - aaronem 13y ago
    It is hyperbole verging upon silliness to conflate evaluating a person's actions in order to form an opinion of him, and actually making decisions for that person. It is likewise to conflate "defending freedom", whatever you might mean by that uselessly nebulous phrase, with boycotting an extremely valuable conference, because it is keynoted by someone who may perhaps once have invented a programming language of some slight interest, but who, much more importantly, once donated a trivial sum of money in support of a campaign for a plebiscite whose result was promptly vacated by the Supreme Court. No doubt, for someone to whom this would actually matter, boycotting the conference would seem a principled act providing a lovely warm glow of righteousness. I submit that there are many ways of obtaining said lovely warm glow, most of which do not entail denying oneself the opportunity to study with many high luminaries of one's chosen field. For example, one might donate $1000, or perhaps some greater sum, to some organization advancing the cause of gay marriage, and thus feel free to attend the conference without fear of moral taint.
    - egeozcan 13y ago
      The value of the conference differs to each person as much as the value of doing his/her best not to support people who support discrimination. Your values are different. I respect that. I think you should learn to respect other values too.