[jwitchel]

Fair enough, but context matters and there are two that matter here: (1) The subject was the tech and the engineer not biased media narratives, and (2) HN is a forum that so many people look up to. So if you want to context switch to a discussion about the media (a worthy subject BTW) post a new thread; let's not do it on a thread that is spotlighting interesting tech from a promising engineer.

[slingnow]

I would much rather live in a world where people question biased media narratives and we risk hurting someone's feelings than the other way around. If this kid can't handle a little bit of criticism, he won't be long for the engineering discipline.

[psd1]

That's a false dichotomy

> If this kid can't handle a little bit of criticism

I do expect adults - over 25 - to take the rough with the smooth. But children are not adults.

I think you're assuming your own competence at pedagogy. I would want to shield children from you until they've developed the resilience you demand from them.

Also, the emotional tone - sheesh

[jwitchel]

+1 And to pile on a bit here... part of learning to be a good engineer is learning how to give good constructive feedback. If you are creating real risk of truly hurting someone with your feedback (in a PR or a code review for example) then it's you who are at fault for tone deafness not them for being thin skinned.

Giving and getting feedback is hard. It's a skill and it doesn't come easily to most. Sometimes hurting someone's feelings is inevitable, but starting from a place of "toughen up buttercup" is really self-serving and counterproductive.

There is always someone better than you, and always someone worse. Always someone who knows something you don't, and always someone who can learn from you.

[MichaelCollins]

> But children are not adults.

He's 17 years old, so he's not a full adult. But classing him as a child, in the same category as 6 year olds, seems further from the truth than calling him an adult. 17 years old is old enough to join the army, today, in numerous developed first world nations like New Zealand, Norway, and with parental consent, Germany and America.

[jwitchel]

It's not a binary choice. We can and should have both. We can also provide constructive feedback and at times criticism both without risking hurting their feelings. Again, the point is time and place.

[dieselgate]

Don’t know about this one, when it comes to someone who is younger than 18 for this context I’d error on the side of “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything”. If it’s Sharktank or something that’s a bit different