Deferring tech choices to thought leaders

twitter.com

4 pointscoloneltcb2 comments

I'd say the term "thought leader" is a bad smell.

There are few famous software developers that I would defer to. John Carmack is a singular figure. Folks like Atwood, Spolskey, and Hansson have had success with certain projects in a certain domain but their advice on software development and marketing is not transferable, it just isn't.

Ditto for academia. At least tech has no shortage of writers or influencers who satiricize leaders for fun, profit--- but never take the name of liberty in vain. The equivalent for academia

(or R&D in general: Hossenfelder, gwern, these are the "center-left" for want of a better label for those of us who are ashamed that they can't summon memes at will)

don't argue like they graduated middle school (maybe there just isn't profit in it, but what about fun?)

Don't look at me, look at dang, he's got the skills (Symbolics 101?)

To recognize that

48552767

Outflanks the snark injunction (edit: against the upper middle class of wits)

"The supply shock that Club of Rome didn't know it needed"

Excuse me.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com