3 ms·

You don't need to be a carpenter to tell if the doors are hung straight. You DO need to be one to actually assess the overall build and structure.

by jmadsen 12y ago

aaron695 12y ago
I think you need to re-read the point. Anyone can tell if a really really shoddy building is NOT structurally sound. What is hard to tell is if a building IS structurally sound. That is why engineers exist. Not for the previous.
bduerst 12y ago
The picture they're drawing isn't very straight, as many have demonstrated. Until these "experts" provide evidence otherwise, it's useless to berate readers for pointing out the obvious.
- logicallee 12y ago
  Bduerst, I have almost never downvoted anyone over anything. But I must say you have no right to put "experts" in quotation marks. Given their bio, they are experts. Which makes your comment a troll comment. (Unheard-of on HN.) Really, what do you think the definition of an expert is? "Just because he teaches the stuff at the University of Edinburgh, has sold a company to Siemens that created the world's only installed MW-scaled marine turbines (with the sale described by Bloomberg as a 'blow to the UK'[1]), and received an MBE for his contributions, does not make him an energy expert." Of course they're experts, even if they're ones you disagree with. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/siemens-to-take-over-u-k-tidal-turbine-maker-in-next-few-weeks.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/siemens-to-take-ove...
  - bduerst 12y ago
    I should have been more specific because I don't think what I was trying to communicate came across. I did not mean to imply that these people are not experts at anything, just that they should publish findings, test results, or at least a white paper on proof of concept. As it is, this website reads like they did the napkin math for the idea and are using only their credentials to legitimize it. Its an appeal to authority.
    - jmadsen 12y ago
      Those are valid points, but I think too many here are assuming they don't have anything more substantial & this website is their entire speil. I don't think people like these two would risk their considerable reputations publishing something that every one of their peers could take apart at a cocktail party. More likely, there's more behind this website. HN readers rarely give that obvious benefit of the doubt.

You don't need to be a carpenter to tell if the doors are hung straight. You DO need to be one to actually assess the overall build and structure.

by jmadsen 12y ago

You don't need to be a carpenter to tell if the doors are hung straight. You DO need to be one to actually assess the overall build and structure.

aaron695 12y ago

I think you need to re-read the point. Anyone can tell if a really really shoddy building is NOT structurally sound. What is hard to tell is if a building IS structurally sound. That is why engineers exist. Not for the previous.

bduerst 12y ago

The picture they're drawing isn't very straight, as many have demonstrated. Until these "experts" provide evidence otherwise, it's useless to berate readers for pointing out the obvious.

logicallee 12y ago
Bduerst, I have almost never downvoted anyone over anything. But I must say you have no right to put "experts" in quotation marks. Given their bio, they are experts. Which makes your comment a troll comment. (Unheard-of on HN.) Really, what do you think the definition of an expert is? "Just because he teaches the stuff at the University of Edinburgh, has sold a company to Siemens that created the world's only installed MW-scaled marine turbines (with the sale described by Bloomberg as a 'blow to the UK'[1]), and received an MBE for his contributions, does not make him an energy expert." Of course they're experts, even if they're ones you disagree with. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/siemens-to-take-over-u-k-tidal-turbine-maker-in-next-few-weeks.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/siemens-to-take-ove...
- bduerst 12y ago
  I should have been more specific because I don't think what I was trying to communicate came across. I did not mean to imply that these people are not experts at anything, just that they should publish findings, test results, or at least a white paper on proof of concept. As it is, this website reads like they did the napkin math for the idea and are using only their credentials to legitimize it. Its an appeal to authority.
  - jmadsen 12y ago
    Those are valid points, but I think too many here are assuming they don't have anything more substantial & this website is their entire speil. I don't think people like these two would risk their considerable reputations publishing something that every one of their peers could take apart at a cocktail party. More likely, there's more behind this website. HN readers rarely give that obvious benefit of the doubt.