[cheesetable]

Headlines often aren't meant to be read literally.

It's just a teaser to read the article.

[MaxikCZ]

> Headlines often aren't meant to be read literally.

Why is this normalized?

[sellyme]

Because most humans are functional enough to understand the concepts of metaphor and allusion.

No rational person would read this headline and assume that some cosmic force prevents you from coding Dwarf Fortress unless you have a math PhD. Therefore the most reasonable conclusion is that the creator of Dwarf Fortress does have a math PhD, and that it provided significant transferrable skills. That this is not what the headline says on a literal reading does not prevent a reader even with zero familiarity on the topic from correctly understanding it.

[handrous]

Spam won. The entire web is spam now. It's all deceptive crap trying to grab your eyes. That's why we accept clickbait headlines as normal.

[munk-a]

Did you want to read my curated top-ten list of non-spam websites?

[rlayton2]

Only if it's unlikely I'll believe #3

[beaconstudios]

more clickbait -> more views -> more ad impressions -> more money -> more marketing -> more market share -> more clickbait

it's a competitive advantage.

[fridif]

But why is it bad to react to a headline? It offered something interesting to consider.

[mrspeaker]

Because the creator himself specifically addressed the headline in the article. So either you think you know better than the creator, or just saw the headline and knee-jerk wrote a comment without reading the article contents.

Saying "You don't need a PhD you just need to believe in yourself", or whatever, is fine - but it's not related to the article, so gets down votes.

[6gvONxR4sf7o]

The headline is part of the article. You could say “so you think you know better than the author” by quoting the body or “so you think you know better than the subject” by quoting the headline. Both are quoting the article to react to other parts of the article. The fact that the single most salient and most read part of the article sucks is plenty worthy of criticism.

[fridif]

When did I ever say any of these things?

I specifically said that it is possible for someone to create a game like Dwarf Fortress without being the recepient of a PhD in Math.

I never said that I knew better than the author, or that you needed to believe in yourself, or anything like that.

I believe you are assuming that I'm reacting to something, but all I am saying is that you do not need a PhD to do what has been done.