[TeMPOraL]

GP has a fair counterpoint. Yes, PG, like every pundit, is biased. Yes, many of us here read his essays in our younger, more naive years, and it took time to learn how they're not as seminal as we thought. But yes, pointing that out is also a meme at this point; it starts to feel like a hash-table dismissal[0], which is not very interesting or useful.

--

[0] - 'dang described it long ago as behaving as if there was a great hash table in the sky, mapping a person's name to the simplest and most well-known fault of them, and as if commenters were somehow obliged to dereference that hash table every time some person's name is mentioned.

[mihaic]

The hash-table response is a good one -- you're right.

But I still interpret it as debiasing tool for those that aren't very familiar to PG's writing, so it's not really useless. After all, there must still be new HN users all the time, for which some things are worth repeating (just not too often).

[simoncion]

> But yes, pointing that out is also a meme at this point; it starts to feel like a hash-table dismissal...

Eh. I think of it as a warning that younger us (or -at least- younger me) would have very, very, very much appreciated when we were first reading the essays.

Yeah, _you_ have had these realizations about how less-profound-than-they-seem the essays are, and _you_ have read the essay(s). But, like, the essays keep popping up... why not also keep mentioning that they're not as profound as they seem? There's _always_ going to be someone who's reading the essays for the first time, so why discourage folks from providing the new reader the opportunity to read valid criticism of the essays developed over the years?

[TeMPOraL]

Fine, but that comment was not a proper criticism or a warning - it was a dismissal. Even having revised my opinions on pg and his writings, I find coldtea's summary to be unfair.

[coldtea]

How about maciej's criticism, which is basically the same with more words (though also much funnier than mine)?

https://idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm

[nickpp]

Loved that essay back in 2005, you know. PG and YC were just starting then, no? But, since then, I watched in awe what they built and how their work touches and improves my life every day.

Maciej? He's writing about how we shouldn't go to Mars these days. He's and excellent and very entertaining writer and I am sure he has plenty to teach me but I'd rather listen to PG. My focus is limited and I'd rather follow someone who already helped me get ahead and showed me what the possibilities truly are instead of pushing his limits onto me.

[coldtea]

>Maciej? He's writing about how we shouldn't go to Mars these days.

Which, I, for one, also find 100% on the money. A lot of snakeoil has been sold by Musk, Bezos, and co about the matter.

[nickpp]

Of course you do.

But, please indulge me, I am curious: how is this mindset serving you? Are you a happy person? Are you a balanced person? Are you a successful person? Do you have everything you need? How long have you been thinking like that? What would it take to change your mind?

Thanks for your answers.