Many of the comments here show why critical thinking is a useful skill esp with articles such as this one, but given how much volume there is nowadays, and the fact that we are not all subject matter experts, it becomes a bit cumbersome.
I wish these articles had a "Ways in which our claim could be wrong" section. Maybe every article should. E.g. Here is what i think, but here are aspects of it that I haven't looked into that could make me change my stance.
At the very least, you'd know the author made some effort to be truthful, and not just sensationalist/misled.
Perhaps we can have a browser extension that aggregates and ranks crowdsourced feedback on articles such as this one? :P
"Neither Mr. Weizenbaum nor Mr. McCarthy mentioned, though it was hard to miss, that this ascendant generation were nearly all white men with a strong preference for people just like themselves."
Ok,this, and a few other tropes have become so prevalent in media today that it is starting to be annoying.
I genuinely believe the people using these tropes (race, gender, inequality, evil tech) are not interested in remedying any societal ills, but in getting more attention and views on their articles.
i don't know why, but every time someone says stuff like 'such a strong X in Y that exists with a very healthy and growing community around it' i feel the need to puke.
"Unless, of course you ruin your voice, but let's not think about that possibility."
Yeah, of course. Let's not think about it. Except for we should.
Here is my view. Introduce balance in your life - push yourself for a limited amount of time per day, pursuing a specific goal, and do it intelligently. Like when you are in the gym - lift more than you should for longer than you should and get to enjoy 6 months of tendonitis.
It is not because you are weak/dumb. It's because your approach is weak and dumb.
Taking into consideration that you are a person who posts quora articles on "what it is like to understand advanced mathematics" and "Kaspersky: Controversies", I think arrogance is the answer to your question, Mr math PhD :D
Such discoveries (yes, of similar or greater quality) are made so frequently in the southern parts of the Balkans / Italy that they are almost skipped in the news. Yet, when it happens in France it makes the NYT and the event is 'exceptional'.
I gotta say, as fucking annoying as I find most of you people on other topics, I am so thrilled to see your support for a cause such as this one. You almost killed the cynic in me :) Go hackers!
"...And that is a good thing. If they can be influenced in a bad way quickly, then they can be influenced in a good way..."
Are you just interested in making arguments for arguments' sake?
Besides that, all of your comments are good examples about why direct democracy is not a always a good idea - because most people don't have enough time/desire to think issues through, and yet they are willing to be adamant about their opinions on them.
I get it - sorry, meant to playfully Sunday afternoon troll you.
Ever since I moved from C to Java (I like low level stuff but the company I joined is such) I have been having one of three major problems - logic bugs, too many frameworks, causing bugs due to lack of in depth understanding of each one of them, and GC bottlenecks. Of all of them, I hate the GC ones the most.