How do you build up a movement with destructive criticism?
...
Yeah, that's what I thought. But that doesn't stop the makers of sites like You're Not Helping from going flat-out negative, even when they're offering "praise."
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Dear Sam,
I read your presentation to the Atheist Alliance. You were eminently successful in being a controversial contrarian, so your intent was well executed. Good work!
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I subscribed recently to YNH and I dislike much of what I see there.
Re: YNH. I made a few comments there, and got some snarky replies back. It's like the authors of the site have to reply to every single post. I went away thinking they were kind of dicks.
The issue I was replying to was their apparent need to leap into criticizing certain approaches to outspoken atheism.
I keep thinking that when society has had about a thousand years of freedom to be unbelievers, to balance the many thousands of years of draconian religiosity, THAT will be the time to take the pulse of the atheist movement and perhaps declare that some of us are misguided in our approach. UNTIL THEN, it's way to early to declare You're Not Helping.
They're welcome to do what they do, no doubt. But ... I lost interest in the site pretty fast.
How do you build up a movement with destructive criticism?
It's quite simple, if you're not just being pedantic.
A good example is The Daily WTF, which for years has been helping to teach thousands of programmers what badly-written software looks like. Of course, it helps that the consequences are so often amusing, but it is actually an excellent way to demonstrate good practices by exposing real world examples of Fail. The criticism is always snarky, and the names are changed to protect the guilty. The comments are often as instructive as the posts as others pile on.
See also: User Interface Hall of Shame.
"You're not helping" -> subscribed
"Almost Diamonds" -> not subscribed
Thanks Greg for the (second level) recommendation!
MrPeach: Ha! That is a little like hearing a movie critic say "Porgies II -> Wow! I want to see it again, Citizen Kane -> Awful movie, should be colorized anyway"
The Daily WTF is brilliant. It's like Fail blog for coders. But it isn't all just coding, actually.
Hey, I like the negative approach - it's much like my own view on the world. Personally I find it more honest.
OTOH, I'll pass on both those movies, thanks.
I will, however, allocate time to read the biography I have on Orson Welles. Much positive and negative to be found there, I'm sure.
I knew somebody who knew Orson Welles. My friend was a staff member at a place that hired him regularly. SInce she was not important he treated her like shit.