> the argument is "that mythology isn't useful, here's a better one."
That's just a lame attempt to piggy-back on the name recognition of an established concept to try to funnel the spotlight on an entirely different and unrelated concept.
Different concepts are different. Thus they should be named differently, without resorting to unexcusable PR tactics.
Let's be clear: I don't think this article has created any confusion. It's manipulative, like a lot of headlines that hit the front page - you click on it expecting one thing, and find another. It's not misleading in the way poor naming in technical contexts is misleading, so I think you're somewhat guilty of conflating different concepts yourself.
The substitution is a rhetorical device to deliberately draw comparison between different ways of approaching the same goal, i.e. being more effective as a programmer.
The author, I expect, would justify the sleight of hand by saying: the audience that believes most wholeheartedly in 10x programmers is precisely the audience that needs to hear how to benefit from low-hanging fruit that will make teams more effective. Really it's an old saw, "the brilliant jerk vs. collaborative team".
You're welcome to disagree with that assessment, but I'd suggest that responding to the particular contentions in the article is more worthwhile that overinvesting in a rhetorical dichotomy which has been used for effect only.
rumanator|6 years ago
That's just a lame attempt to piggy-back on the name recognition of an established concept to try to funnel the spotlight on an entirely different and unrelated concept.
Different concepts are different. Thus they should be named differently, without resorting to unexcusable PR tactics.
al-king|6 years ago
The substitution is a rhetorical device to deliberately draw comparison between different ways of approaching the same goal, i.e. being more effective as a programmer.
The author, I expect, would justify the sleight of hand by saying: the audience that believes most wholeheartedly in 10x programmers is precisely the audience that needs to hear how to benefit from low-hanging fruit that will make teams more effective. Really it's an old saw, "the brilliant jerk vs. collaborative team".
You're welcome to disagree with that assessment, but I'd suggest that responding to the particular contentions in the article is more worthwhile that overinvesting in a rhetorical dichotomy which has been used for effect only.
lonelappde|6 years ago