>> A popular criticism of Silicon Valley, usually levied by people not building anything at all themselves
> Why can or should criticism only come from [1] people that are building things themselves? What about the press (as only one example) or people who write books? What about people teaching in colleges? What about people leaving comments on HN or any other forum?
Another interpretation is that while criticism can come from any source, those who are not building things themselves necessarily have a different perspective than those who do, and therefore their arguments should be heard in that context.
Also there are people not currently building but that have built something in the past (or assisted others who have done so). Such as sama or pg.
> have a different perspective than those who do, and therefore their arguments should be heard in that context.
That perspective could also be more valuable in some cases. Keep in mind that many of today's "disrupters" are people outside a traditional industry who actually do great things exactly because they have little experience and are not jaded. Fresh outlook not restrained by traditional thinking.
The problem that I had (if you want to call it that) was not that sama made that statement. It's the fact that I feel he implied a negative which was not warranted. Plus the use of "usually" when the truth is nobody is in a position to know the exact experience or background of someone offering criticism particularly what they have done in the past. [1] [2]
[1] There could be people even here on HN who have extremely significant backgrounds in building things that prefer to remain anonymous.
[2] I am now thinking maybe this is why PG has others read his essays. So he could simply change a sentence or insert a word and avoid criticism and excessive footnotes.
> Why can or should criticism only come from [1] people that are building things themselves? What about the press (as only one example) or people who write books? What about people teaching in colleges? What about people leaving comments on HN or any other forum?
Another interpretation is that while criticism can come from any source, those who are not building things themselves necessarily have a different perspective than those who do, and therefore their arguments should be heard in that context.