Personal attacks are not allowed on Hacker News. We ban accounts that do this, so please don't do it. Instead, please post civilly and substantively, or not at all.
I'm also interested in the other half of the question - what made the MIT selection committee willing to promote an uncredentialed candidate - that's a gutsy move in a university environment as faculty are very protective of the status of their group.
This is perhaps also made a little easier based on the field. In the arts, faculty members do get by without Phds a little more often than in science. Sometimes an MFA is enough.
But what he actually posted was a snarky drive-by smear. This doesn't strike me as a difficult distinction.
Snark posing as a question is toxic. Considering how easy it is to avoid when one wants to, I think it's reasonable to hold HN users to a higher standard on this.
There is nothing personal about my question. As I see it, this guy has questionable credentials to get such a prestigious job, so I ask what has he done. It looks he owned a bar, made some investments, his dad was high up in a quasi-impressive tech company. Again, very vague credentials which say he has money but no particular skill.
Until you mentioned your 12 y.o. nephew.
You may have just set a new Hacker News record, moving up Paul Graham's Disagreement Hierarchy from DH0. (Name Calling) all the way up to DH4. (Counterargument) in just 2 replies!
If that's all you did, I would say that's not a personal attack. But how is saying "looks like cronyism to me" not a personal attack?