31–40 of 44 posts
Wolfram is self-promoting even in goodbyes to the departed now? Yikes, I didn't think it could get any worse...
"By the standards of Mathematica or Wolfram|Alpha, the 1961 integration program was very primitive" That is indeed quite distasteful.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wolfram threads always fill up with comments like this, from people upset that he doesn't slosh out more credit to 3rd parties. But so what? We do ourselves a disservice to get so caught up in this social game. Wolfram isn't being nasty; he's just sharing his own personal recollections and ideas, often quite interesting. Where's the harm? Take the good, leave the social judgement aside.
Well, you know, when you are eulogizing someone its generally courteous to talk more about that person than about yourself. When you are promoting your books and "science", be plagiarizing and criticize those who point it out. Just try to put it on pause for the eulogies.
It's one thing to confront somebody when they're being rude. That can be good. But it's pointless to pretend "confront" someone who isn't even here, especially when they're basically famous for it.
Hey everyone: What we can call Wolfram Derangement Syndrome—the vast indignation provoked in internet commenters by his vast self-reference—is off topic. Nothing so predictable can be interesting, and predictable rage reflexes are toxic. The first few times this came up, years ago, it was worth noting. I laughed at the same parodies everyone else did. But by now, Wolfram's odd tic has long been commoditized, and it's…
really nice thoughts, esp. about teaching and discoveries "marvinminsky said [...] that the best way to teach programming was to start by showing people good code"
Wolfram is self-promoting even in goodbyes to the departed now? Yikes, I didn't think it could get any worse...
30 links. 27 links to Wolfram and his products. 2 links to Minsky's work. 1 link to a mathematics geneology site (who was who's grad student). The math geneology site (not Wolfram) is pretty cool. Otherwise this is a particularly distasteful way to put out self-aggrandizing plugs. Edit: that math geneology site that shows all the students of Minsky (and their students, etc) -- http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu…
Yes, I do believe Wolfram went overboard with his claims for "A New Kind of Science", but I don't think this very sweet blog post was in any way inappropriate.
It's not rude to reference your own work when discussing someone else's, especially when you're showing how much they influenced you and were important to your growth.
Wolfram and Minsky both have backgrounds in academia. In academia "self-promotion" is actually not generally frowned upon.
People really do expect you to bring up your own work whenever possible and connect it whatever issue is at hand. This is not considered rude or offensive or "bragging", anymore than if someone told you they're from New York City and you mentioned that you'd lived in Brooklyn for seven years.
It's a way for people to find common ground and show how much they share intellectually.
Thus, I'm pretty sure Minsky wouldn't be offended.
And yes, for the record I have found Wolfram to be somewhat self-aggrandizing in the past, but I just don't think this is an example of that, he's simply reminiscing over his history with Minsky and describing some connections between their work.
Hey everyone: What we can call Wolfram Derangement Syndrome—the vast indignation provoked in internet commenters by his vast self-reference—is off topic. Nothing so predictable can be interesting, and predictable rage reflexes are toxic. The first few times this came up, years ago, it was worth noting. I laughed at the same parodies everyone else did. But by now, Wolfram's odd tic has long been commoditized, and it's…
The readership of online publications is open ended. You should not expect community or memory of past exchanges. Wolfram is irritating prick and that fact will come up frequently when people discover it again and again. Don't except evolution in discussion when the site is just stream of links.