The dying art of the hatchet job An Article by Dorian Lynskey staging.unherd.com I find that the act of disagreeing with a sharp takedown sharpens my appreciation of the work in question. If I have to think a bit harder about what I like and why I like it, that’s fine by me, especially when it’s something that has been almost universally acclaimed. ...It’s not that I long for an epidemic of gleeful brutality but I will always cherish the right of critics to express their hate, hate, hate in the ultimate service of what they love, love, love. critique
From hands to machines It has rarely proved practical to produce exactly the same product by machines as we produced by hand. Mechanization requires you produce an equivalent product, not identically the same one. Richard Hamming, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn The Nature and Art of WorkmanshipThe Real World of Technology