

Never.  Ever.  Cargo-cult. - cperciva
http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/2008/1/7/never-ever-cargo-cult

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cperciva
The author of this piece winces at hearing "but that's how Jamis does it", but
I think the lesson applies equally to "but Paul Graham says...".

I mean no disrespect to Paul Graham, of course -- but as the article points
out, understanding the advantages of something is far superior to accepting it
solely based on the recommendation of an authority. Listen to authorities,
sure; but decide for yourself whether and why what they're saying makes sense.

~~~
staunch
I think one reason it seems there's more PG cargo cult members than really
exist is because a good portion of his essays are written to express and argue
what is already well established among good hackers.

If someone wants to discuss with me how to run a workspace for hackers the
first thing I do is say "Read Paul Graham's essay 'What Business Can Learn
From Open Source'". I've been arguing those same ideas since before that
article existed, but he managed to express them much more succinctly and
convincingly than I can do on the fly.

If you've known me long enough then you know that's not cargo culting, but if
you haven't how can you tell?

------
euccastro
..and start practising by looking up what "cargo-cult" actually means.

