The author of this piece winces at hearing "but that's how Jamis does it", but I think the lesson applies equally to "but Paul Graham says...".

I mean no disrespect to Paul Graham, of course -- but as the article points out, understanding the advantages of something is far superior to accepting it solely based on the recommendation of an authority. Listen to authorities, sure; but decide for yourself whether and why what they're saying makes sense.

I think one reason it seems there's more PG cargo cult members than really exist is because a good portion of his essays are written to express and argue what is already well established among good hackers.

If someone wants to discuss with me how to run a workspace for hackers the first thing I do is say "Read Paul Graham's essay 'What Business Can Learn From Open Source'". I've been arguing those same ideas since before that article existed, but he managed to express them much more succinctly and convincingly than I can do on the fly.

If you've known me long enough then you know that's not cargo culting, but if you haven't how can you tell?

"understanding the advantages of something is far superior to accepting it solely based on the recommendation of an authority"

This is not as obvious as it sounds because it costs time to get to your own understanding. It depends.

> The author of this piece winces at hearing "but that's how Jamis does it", but I think the lesson applies equally to "but Paul Graham says...".

BLASPHEMER!!!

;-)

..and start practising by looking up what "cargo-cult" actually means.