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688 points samwho | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.212s | source
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jcalx ◴[] No.45018653[source]
This article and its associated HN comment section continue in the long tradition of Big O Notation explainers [0] and getting into a comment kerfuffle over the finer, technical points of such notation versus its practical usage [1]. The wheel turns...

[0] https://nedbatchelder.com/text/bigo.html

[1] https://nedbatchelder.com/blog/201711/toxic_experts.html

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1. dawnofdusk ◴[] No.45019459[source]
From what I read in the comments of the first post, the Pyon guy seems very toxic and pedantic, but the rebuttal by Ned isn't great. For example, nowhere in the rebuttal is the pedantic technical detail ever actually described. In fact the prose reads very awkwardly in order to circumlocute around describing it, just repeatedly naming it "particular detail". In my view, the author overreaches: he dismisses Pyon not only for the delivery of his criticism (which was toxic) but also the content of his criticism (why?).

Ultimately Ned is in the right about empathy and communication online. But as an educator it would have been nice to hear, even briefly, why he thought Pyon's point was unnecessarily technical and pedantic? Instead he just says "I've worked for decades and didn't know it". No one is too experienced to learn.

EDIT: I just skimmed the original comment section between Pyon and Ned and it seems that Ned is rather diplomatic and intellectually engages with Pyon's critique. Why is this level of analysis completely missing from the follow-up blogpost? I admit to not grasping the technical details or importance, personally, it would be nice to hear a summarized analysis...

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2. xenotux ◴[] No.45020668[source]
Such is the curse of blogging: when writing a series of posts, authors naturally assume that the readers are as engaged and as familiar with the previous discussion as they are.

In reality, even regular subscribers probably aren't, and if you're a random visitor years later, the whole thing may be impossible to parse.

3. arp242 ◴[] No.45022327[source]
> Why is this level of analysis completely missing from the follow-up blogpost

Because that's not what the article is about. It's not about whether Pyon was correct or wrong, it's that they were a dick about it. Their opening words were "you should be ashamed". They doubled and tripled down on their dickery later on.

And no matter how good your point is or how right you are: if you're a dick about it people will dislike you.