Xah's Edu Corner: Criticism vs Constructive Criticism

[Xah Lee]

Criticism versus Constructive Criticism

Xah Lee, 2003-01

A lot intelligent people are rather confused about criticism,
especially in our “free-speech� free-for-all internet age. When
they say “constructive criticisms are welcome� they mostly mean
“bitching and complaints not welcome�. Rarely do people actually
mean that “criticism without suggestion of possible solutions are not
welcome� or “impolite criticism not welcome�.

Such discernment is important. Wanton bitching as internet-using geeks
are used to is not criticism is any form.

People can be respected and make a living out of criticisms, called
critics, but not bitching. And when one really value opinions, you
often want criticism without qualifications. Just be happy that
valuable criticisms may come to you free from the experts in the
public. The instant you qualify what kind of feedback are welcome, your
feedback is compromised. (this is particularly so for political or
controversial subjects)

One easy way for many of the unix geeks to understand this is the
cryptology industry.

If one really desires valuable criticisms that is polite or with
solutions or “constructive � (whatever that means), one usually have
to pay.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/writ/criticism.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/

[John Bokma]

Ken Tilton <ke*******@gmai l.com> wrote:

and if he were a troll, he would respond to each and every shusher to
increase the flames.
There are several ways to troll. He writes up a rant, and let others do
the flaming. He probably saves up his energy for the next rant.

Like someone else wrote: put it on a website (he already does). Turn it
into a blog, make people comment. But stop cross posting rants.
in this case he just responded to someone who
threatened him.

Maybe because he got a not so nice email from his hosting provider ;-)

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html

[Jürgen Exner]

Eli Gottlieb wrote:

Xah Lee wrote:

Criticism versus Constructive Criticism

Xah Lee, 2003-01

+-------------------+ .:\:\:/:/:.
| PLEASE DO NOT | :.:\:\:/:/:.:
| FEED THE TROLLS | :=.' - - '.=:
| | '=(\ 9 9 /)='
| Thank you, | ( (_) )
| Management | /`-vvv-'\
+-------------------+ / \
| | @@@ / /|,,,,,|\ \
| | @@@ /_// /^\ \\_\
@x@@x@ | | |/ WW( ( ) )WW
\||||/ | | \| __\,,\ /,,/__
\||/ | | | jgs (______Y______)
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\//\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
=============== =============== =============== =============== ==
And worse: don't ever full quote them.

jue

[gene tani]

John Bokma wrote:

Roedy Green <my************ *************** ***@munged.inva lid> wrote:

I leave that up to Xah's ISP/USP and hosting provider to decide :-D

he's solidified position as top troll of 2003-2006

[Nigel Rowe]

Ari Johnson wrote:

"Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org > writes:

<snip/>

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
? http://xahlee.org/

(This isn't constructive criticism, but just a question:) Are you the
sum of your web page?

Yes he is, the total value is zero.

--
Nigel Rowe
A pox upon the spammers that make me write my address like..
rho (snail) swiftdsl (stop) com (stop) au

[RobertSzefler]

John Bokma wrote:

harassing Usenet. (Did I just wrote smart?!)

Tell me about bad English :)

[John Bokma]

"gene tani" <ge*******@gmai l.com> wrote:

John Bokma wrote:

Roedy Green <my************ *************** ***@munged.inva lid> wrote:

I leave that up to Xah's ISP/USP and hosting provider to decide :-D

he's solidified position as top troll of 2003-2006

Maybe because people rather post a reply instead of sending an abuse
report.

Got this from Dreamhost (hosting provider):

"I have warned this user that excessive offtopic cross-posting is not
allowed, and explained that if he doesn't quit he risks losing his
account. If you (or anyone else) notice this in the future, please do not
hesitate to submit another report."

Since Xah was also yesterday complaining to me about harassment I guess
something happened.

In the past some others and I managed to have 10 out of 20 sites shut down
from a "solidified top troll". (Each rant had 20+ links to his sites)

You know, just some sunlight is was really solidifies a troll :-D.

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html

[Xah Lee]

What Languages to Hate

Xah Lee, 20020718

Dear lisp comrades and other concerned parties,

First, all languages have equal rights. Do not belittle other languages
just because YOUR favorite language is a bit better in this aspect or
that. Different people have different ideas and manners of perception.
Ideas compete and thrive in all unexpected fashions. Societies improve,
inventions progress. Lisp may be a first in this or that, or faster or
flexibler, or higher level than other languages old and new, but then
there are other languages the like of Mathematica & Haskell & Dylan et
al which ridicule lisps in the same way lisp ridicule other languages.

Just because YOU are used to more functional programing or love lots of
parenthesis doesn't mean they are the only and best concepts. The
so-called Object Oriented programing of Java fame, or the visual
programing of Visual Basic fame, or the logic programing of Prolog
fame, or the format-stable syntax of Python fame, or the “one line of
Mathematica equals ten to one thousand lines of lisp� of _A New Kind
Of Science_ fame... all are parts of healthy competing concepts,
paradigms, or directions of growth.

The way some of you deride other languages is like sneering
heterogeneousne ss. If unchecked, soon you'll only have your sister to
marry to. Cute, but you do not want incest to become the only sex. Next
time your superiority complex makes you sneer at non-lisp or other
non-popular languages, remember this. It is diversity of ideas, that
drives the welfare of progress.

Now, there is one judgmental criterion, that if a language or computer
technology fits it, then we not only should castigate at their
missionaries, but persecute and harass the language to the harshest
death. That is: utter sloppiness, irresponsibilit y, and lies. These
things are often borne out of some student's homework or moron's
dirty-work, harbored by “free� and wanton lies and personalfame,
amassed thru ignorance.

Of my short but diligent industrial unix computing experience since
1998, i have identified the following targets:

* C (and consequences like csh, C++)
* vi
* Perl
* MySQL
* unix, unixism, and things grown out of unix. (languages,
protocols, philosophies, expectations, movements)

In our software industry, i like to define criminals as those who cause
inordinate harm to society, not necessarily directly. Of the above
things, some of their authors are not such criminals or are forgivable.
While others, are hypocritical fantastic liers selfish to the core.
When dealing with these self-promoting jolly lying humble humorous
priests and their insidious superficially-harmless speeches, there
should be no benefit of doubt. Tell them directly to stop their vicious
lies. Do a face-off.

As to their brain-washed followers for example the not-yet-hard-core
unix, C, or Perl coders rampant in industry, try to snap them out of
it. This you do by loudly snapping fingers in front of their face,
making it sound like a ear piercing bang. Explain to them the utter
stupidity of the things they are using, and the harm to their brain.
IMPORTANT: _teach_, not _debate_ or _discuss_ or falling back into your
philosophical deliberating indecisiveness. I've seen enough criticisms
among learned programers or academics on these, so i know you know what
i'm talking about. When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving,
kick him out of the door. He has became a zombie who cannot be helped.

There are other languages or technology, by itself technically are
perhaps mediocre but at least is not a egregious irresponsible hack,
therefore does not deserve scorn, but sometimes it comes with
overwhelming popular outrageous lies (euphemized as hype). Java is a
example. For this reason, it is equally deserving the harshest
treatment. Any loud proponents of such should be immediately slapped in
the mouth and kicked in the ass in no ambiguous ways.

Summary: all languages have equal rights. However, those utterly SLOPPY
and IRRESPONSIBLE HACKS with promoter's LIES should be severely
punished. It is these, that cause computing industry inordinate harm.
Meanwhile, it is wrong to haughtily criticize other languages just
because they are not your cup of tea. Now, please remember this and go
do society good.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/w...e_to_hate.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/

[Xah Lee]

Addendum:

Recently I ran into this egregious propaganda:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedi...cingPython.mpg

folks, take a look. This is a significant part how things move in the
computing community.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/

Xah Lee wrote:

What Languages to Hate

Xah Lee, 20020718

Dear lisp comrades and other concerned parties,

First, all languages have equal rights. Do not belittle other languages
just because YOUR favorite language is a bit better in this aspect or
that. Different people have different ideas and manners of perception.
Ideas compete and thrive in all unexpected fashions. Societies improve,
inventions progress. Lisp may be a first in this or that, or faster or
flexibler, or higher level than other languages old and new, but then
there are other languages the like of Mathematica & Haskell & Dylan et
al which ridicule lisps in the same way lisp ridicule other languages.

Just because YOU are used to more functional programing or love lots of
parenthesis doesn't mean they are the only and best concepts. The
so-called Object Oriented programing of Java fame, or the visual
programing of Visual Basic fame, or the logic programing of Prolog
fame, or the format-stable syntax of Python fame, or the “one line of
Mathematica equals ten to one thousand lines of lisp� of _A New Kind
Of Science_ fame... all are parts of healthy competing concepts,
paradigms, or directions of growth.

The way some of you deride other languages is like sneering
heterogeneousne ss. If unchecked, soon you'll only have your sister to
marry to. Cute, but you do not want incest to become the only sex. Next
time your superiority complex makes you sneer at non-lisp or other
non-popular languages, remember this. It is diversity of ideas, that
drives the welfare of progress.

Now, there is one judgmental criterion, that if a language or computer
technology fits it, then we not only should castigate at their
missionaries, but persecute and harass the language to the harshest
death. That is: utter sloppiness, irresponsibilit y, and lies. These
things are often borne out of some student's homework or moron's
dirty-work, harbored by “free� and wanton lies and personal fame,
amassed thru ignorance.

Of my short but diligent industrial unix computing experience since
1998, i have identified the following targets:

* C (and consequences like csh, C++)
* vi
* Perl
* MySQL
* unix, unixism, and things grown out of unix. (languages,
protocols, philosophies, expectations, movements)

In our software industry, i like to define criminals as those who cause
inordinate harm to society, not necessarily directly. Of the above
things, some of their authors are not such criminals or are forgivable.
While others, are hypocritical fantastic liers selfish to the core.
When dealing with these self-promoting jolly lying humble humorous
priests and their insidious superficially-harmless speeches, there
should be no benefit of doubt. Tell them directly to stop their vicious
lies. Do a face-off.

As to their brain-washed followers for example the not-yet-hard-core
unix, C, or Perl coders rampant in industry, try to snap them out of
it. This you do by loudly snapping fingers in front of their face,
making it sound like a ear piercing bang. Explain to them the utter
stupidity of the things they are using, and the harm to their brain.
IMPORTANT: _teach_, not _debate_ or _discuss_ or falling back into your
philosophical deliberating indecisiveness. I've seen enough criticisms
among learned programers or academics on these, so i know you know what
i'm talking about. When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving,
kick him out of the door. He has became a zombie who cannot be helped.

There are other languages or technology, by itself technically are
perhaps mediocre but at least is not a egregious irresponsible hack,
therefore does not deserve scorn, but sometimes it comes with
overwhelming popular outrageous lies (euphemized as hype). Java is a
example. For this reason, it is equally deserving the harshest
treatment. Any loud proponents of such should be immediately slapped in
the mouth and kicked in the ass in no ambiguous ways.

Summary: all languages have equal rights. However, those utterly SLOPPY
and IRRESPONSIBLE HACKS with promoter's LIES should be severely
punished. It is these, that cause computing industry inordinate harm.
Meanwhile, it is wrong to haughtily criticize other languages just
because they are not your cup of tea. Now, please remember this and go
do society good.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/w...e_to_hate.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/

[Alex Buell]

On 27 Apr 2006 14:22:03 -0700 "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org > waved a wand
and this message magically appeared:

What Languages to Hate

Folks, this guy has moved to pacbell.net (and probably relocated his
website as well).

Send your complaints to:
ab***@sbcglobal .net
ab***@dreamhost .com

--
http://www.munted.org.uk

Take a nap, it saves lives.

[Roedy Green]

On 27 Apr 2006 14:22:03 -0700, "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org > wrote,
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :

What Languages to Hate

Come, if you are as experienced as you claim you know that
comp.lang.java. advocacy is the home of language wars and commentary on
them, not comp.lang.java. programmer.

It is one thing for a topic to drift but quite another to deliberately
post your initial message in the wrong place.
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Java custom programming, consulting and coaching.