Having never met Tony, but having read many of his posts and comments, I have to say that I can understand that people develop a severe dislike towards him. He's emphatically not a 'nice guy' online. He is expert at his stuff and that makes up for a lot, but he would have to have more respect for, and patience with, less knowledgeable folks to become 'a very good teacher'.
He is extremely condescending towards those that don't get it, especially when they don't display sufficient humility about their lack of knowledge. You have to go "I'm sure you're right, but I would think that you could do such-and-such" to avoid pissing him off. As soon as you say "I think that's wrong, because of this-and-that", then you run the risk to get shat all over with comments of the "you don't get it and you don't want to learn"-kind, even though you're engaging in conversation that wouldn't lead to a flamewar with most other people.
He is a decent teacher for those that can look past his purist rants and are sophisticated enough to ignore the antagonizing that's going on, but he could do much to disseminate his knowledge more effectively to a wider public, without losing anything of the value of his message. It's an awful waste :/.
PS: This is why I sometimes demonstrate low tolerance for stupidity and/or failure or refusal to entertain the possibility of thinking. People get hurt. No, I am not sorry.
(for context he is very good at squash and hurt himself while playing)
What happened to him is very unfortunate but see the kind of conclusion he draws from his ordeal:
"I have formed the opinion that medical specialists are no more equipped to make a medical diagnosis than lay-people."
You would think someone with a reasonable intellect would refrain from making such sweeping generalizations, especially when their own judgment has been clouded by negative empirical evidence.
He is extremely condescending towards those that don't get it, especially when they don't display sufficient humility about their lack of knowledge. You have to go "I'm sure you're right, but I would think that you could do such-and-such" to avoid pissing him off. As soon as you say "I think that's wrong, because of this-and-that", then you run the risk to get shat all over with comments of the "you don't get it and you don't want to learn"-kind, even though you're engaging in conversation that wouldn't lead to a flamewar with most other people.
He is a decent teacher for those that can look past his purist rants and are sophisticated enough to ignore the antagonizing that's going on, but he could do much to disseminate his knowledge more effectively to a wider public, without losing anything of the value of his message. It's an awful waste :/.