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Comment by simias | Hacker News Reader

Indeed: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https%...

It's an interesting article built on a flimsy premise IMO. Languages evolve, expressions evolve. It's like those people who insist that "3rd world countries" still should only refer to countries that weren't aligned during WWII.

A "moonshot" is generally used nowadays to describe a very ambitious project with high risks of failure. Nothing more and nothing less.

Still, I always enjoy reading about the Apollo project and the Space Race so once I got past the hair-splitting premise it made for an enjoyable read.

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The point the article is making is that a true moonshot is a project of incredible scale and ambition, and that we're loosing something by allowing the modern usage of the word.

Modern usage of words are abused in all sorts of formats. I don't think moonshot is going to get any special treatment here any more than "all out blitz", "hate", "nazi", "socialist", etc.

Social media in today's culture is almost built to destroy the meaning of words by overusing them for everything.

The fact that the word literally means itself and its opposite based on use for emphasis is another good example of this.

Languages do evolve, so by that criteria, yeah so what? For that matter, things crash, people die, mistakes are made. Doesn't mean you can't discuss them.

The big takeaway on this one, to me is that a moonshot is usually not just an ambitious project with a high risk of failure. No, a moonshot is typically an ambitious project with a high cost of success. There is a very big difference in that.

If you try and keep things low cost, then a moonshot is doomed to failure. If you are willing to set ambitious goals and pay whatever it takes to hit them, you have a solid chance of success.

The article takes issue with folks coopting a moonshot to say that it was nothing but clever people that succeeded against all odds. By that, some clever people use it as an excuse to play in projects that they think has a low chance of success. Hoping to find one where they are clever enough to beat chance.

Now, I confess this is appealing to me. I've been in teams where they tried to brainstorm a "moonshot" that would change the future. Note, they wanted to brainstorm it. Not to pay for it.

"Move fast and break things"--Gene Kranz

> Apollo was a monumental accomplishment, like the construction of the Pyramids. For Google to emulate that might mean erecting a 10-mile-high earthquake-resistant skyscraper, to literally overshadow Apple and provide an object of public marvel. Does that sound like something Google management would authorize a massive bond issue for? No, it does not—even though the project would surely spur advances in architectural engineering, improvements in materials science, and create a lot of engineering and construction jobs.

Far from enjoyment, I got pretty depressed by this. Advances in architectural engineering, improvements in materials science, ok? Is this what the country and world needs right now? Maybe I'm missing something, and the author is implying the skyscraper would be a giant methadone clinic!

3rd world refers to the Cold War. The 1st world consists of Western democracies and other liberal and advanced states,the 2nd world are the communists, and the 3rd world comprises of everything else.

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