Comment by imiric

Well said, I fully agree.

I respect Simon's work, and have no desire to disparage him. He's an accomplished engineer who has made great contributions to the industry.

But he's not an authority on this subject. And even if he were, this community has a strange obsession with authority figures. Appeals to authority are frequently thrown around to back up an argument. Opinions made by dang, pg, tptacek, sama, et al, are held in higher regard than those made by random accounts. It's often not about the value of what is being said, but about who says it, which is detrimental to open discourse.

I would argue that opinions from authority figures should be challenged more than anyone else's. They are as fallible as everyone, but they're also in a position to influence and mislead a lot of people. So many of humanity's problems were caused by deranged leaders wielding their power and influence over masses. I think this is especially important in the case of this technology, where many people have a lot to gain from certain narratives, and many more have a lot to lose depending on how all this plays out.