I think, as is often the case, there is something to the idea in the post we're commenting on, but it's been taken way too far.

If there's more than "good editing often improves writing" I didn't see it in the essay.

good editing often improves writing, and good writing often improves ideas

That's fair; I appreciate it.

This is the essence of philosophy. Observe X, now argue that everything in the universe is actually X.

What is wrong with having someone edit and review? It is just feedback. If the writing itself is an assignment editing is normal. If the writing is part of another process maybe not.

For fly.io I can see the appeal of unedited content as it can be rougher (as in breaks style guides and whatnot) and I like that roughness in blogs. E.g. you might get a British idiom come through or a more conversational style.

Having an editor isn't wrong, but it's an luxury for something as small as a Hacker News comment or an email.

Paul having an editor isn't a luxury. His essays are edited because it's important for his business. He can easily justify a paying someone.

More to the point, we're contrasting Paul's essays to people who don't have the luxury. Paul's essays could be seen as less genuine, even if they seem wiser.

> His essays are edited because it's important for his business. He can easily justify a paying someone.

First he is not paying someone to edit these (any person I've seen appears to be unpaid and affiliated with HN in some way). Second he's not (as far as I can tell) angling these posts for business purposes (for example if the head of some corporation were doing that that would make sense).

Seems wrong.

Y'all, we definitely edit those posts. ;)

That the 'studiedly mussed' style of fly.io blog posts comes across as 'unedited' for some is a terrific compliment, even more so for being unintended.

Yes unedited just means "one person wrote it", so if something is good and seems unedited that's a great thing.

I think it might just mean we need to get better at editing.

I see nothing wrong at all with asking people for feedback on an essay that will be broadly published and read. That just seems prudent.

What is more concerning is that I don't think many people who have read widely would consider Paul Graham to be a good writer, and yet people who care about him let him publish this article... He's definitely not a bad writer, and he generally communicates good ideas clearly, which is surely sufficient - and perhaps even appropriate - for his purposes. But he's not a Good Writer.

I've read many (perhaps even most) of his essays and there isn't a single one of them that I can actually remember, let alone any particular line or phrase that stands out. Though surely some of the ideas remain an influence in my general thought.

Conversely, there's plenty of writers who have seared many lines - and entire concepts - into my mind forever. I come back to them endlessly, even without pulling up the actual writing.

> I see nothing wrong at all with asking people for feedback on an essay that will be broadly published and read.

Is he really 'broadly published and read'? Most people outside of tech have no clue (and no interest) in what PG says.

Yes there is 'nothing wrong' except if you put yourself out there as having good unique thoughts why does it not show that you are lacking confidence to have others (again in this situation maybe in another I'd agree) always review what you are posting on your personal site or blog?

And very importantly he doesn't allow comments (on his blog) the only comments are on HN which he doesn't link to. It's unknown if he even reads the HN comments anymore. Or (last interaction over a year ago) comment on HN anymore (to defend his thoughts or position).

Many reasons for this of course but if you can't handle criticism and think so little of what people on HN says why are you publishing at all? That's your biggest audience isn't it?

(Side note YES HN is can be a brutal crowd for sure. Would be interesting if he ever publishes the changes he makes in the essays or what the people reviewing the essay have to say).

There's probably not many people who write essays generally focused in tech who have a larger audience (or even following). Though it's beside the point how generally popular he is. It can only be helpful to get feedback on anything that we ever do - it doesn't mean we have to incorporate it.

And seeking feedback from specific people who you respect is a vastly different thing than opening up your digital home to the slovenly masses to come and shit in with their comments.

Though, I think he probably should have sought feedback from some actual good writers for a topic like this...