[heydenberk]

People are downvoting this comment but I think it's a valuable assertion, and the core fact (JS engine developers use current/real-world empirics to make optimization decisions) is indisputably true: https://v8.dev/blog/sparkplug

[astrange]

Well, it's a bit silly to quote SSC (a blog that rewrites basic philosophy so STEMheads can think they invented it) for a definition of "slack".

[Smaug123]

I'll need someone to step in with a link to the actual post, because I can't think of the right search terms, but he has (of course) written about this in the past. His self-described schtick is to write about existing things in such a way that they reach a new audience, by dint of acting as a translator between some of the mental models that various people have. I'm not sure how much is gained by describing such an approach in the way that you do.

If you'd simply omitted the bracketed clause, perhaps your comment might have been useful!

[refenestrator]

The only things philosophers do are think and write, and somehow they are ass bad at writing.

SSC wouldn't have a niche if they could get concepts across without a bunch of obscurantist bullshit.

[astrange]

If you're referring to the continentals, I think French people and academics are just like that because their readers aren't impressed by books they can understand.

[refenestrator]

They're the most egregious but academics in general suffer from the same flaw.

People criticize SSC because they're like "uh leave it to the REAL experts", but A) it's just opinions and B) the 'real experts' are unreadable, so I'll continue to ignore them while occasionally checking out astralcodexten.